Overview
Below we will discuss wards and the major WAR armor
sets that are one source of them.
Most Common New Player
Armor Set Question
To answer the most common up-front question right away,
you can gain great WAR armor sets without rinse-repeat
dungeon/instance efforts. You can get great WAR armor
sets via RvR (PvP) such as advanced PQs, city sieges,
and keep sieges.
You need to review the stats on the various sets to decide
if there are any dungeon armor sets worth the effort of
repeated dungeon/instance efforts and which ones to target.
Wards: Overview
You need wards to see the more advanced PvE content of
WAR, even if it is just to see it. The idea is that some boss
fights in some instances require specific wards.
For example, "looking for one more DPS for Lost Vale, need
greater ward".
It's not whether you have or don't have a particular ward that
matters so much as how many "fragments" of a ward you have
earned through acquiring armor or achievements.
The more "fragments" (5 max) of the ward you need, the more
damage you will do to a warded boss, the less damage
he will do to you, etc.
For example, you need greater ward to fight in the Lost Vale
instance. If you are a main tank in a Lost Vale effort with less
than 4/5 or 5/5 of the greater ward fragments, you will suck
terribly as a tank there.
These fragments of a ward can be gained in several ways, I'll
cover more on this below.
Each level of ward also covers all the ward needs of the level
below it. For example, if you have greater ward you can do
any lesser ward dungeon/instance. The wards are, in order:
- Lesser
- Greater
- Superior
- Excelsior
- Supreme
Greater Ward is the most important for T4 imo as it will get you
into most of the advanced PvE content.
See the "Armory" tab of yer book to see alternative requirements
for each fragment of each ward, in addition to show you what
fragments you already have.
How Many Fragments of a Ward Do I Need?
If you are a main tank ("MT") or even off tank ("OT") you will
want to have 4/5+ fragments of whatever ward level instance
you are fighting in (4 out of 5). You will be expected to have
5/5 though. The system is designed so you will suck badly
if you have less.
Melee dps ("mdps") should also have 4/5+ fragments or your
damage output will be greatly lessened and you will take
huge damage.
All other classes should get as much as they can but can
often do their respective jobs without extreme suckage with
3/5 fragments of the needed ward. If you are totally dependent
on ranged dps (rdps) for damage, however, you'll want them
4/5+ though or else your damage will be weak.
Make sure if you are without proper ward levels you have
all your manual and passive detaunting (subtlety) going.
What Has Changed
It used to be that you needed to wear a piece of armor to get
it's ward benefits, but now you just need to own the piece
(and have high enough renown for that armor piece) to get
the intended ward.
So if you have warlord helm and boots, and enough renown
for them, but 2 pieces of annihilator helm and boots (lesser)
gives you better stats and you want to wear that instead of
the helm and boots warlord armor you own, you will still get
the wards counted as if you were wearing warlord helm and
boots.
Remeber that you can now also get the ward fragments by
reaching achievements listed instead of having the relevant
armor pieces. See Armory tab of your book for details.
Best places to Get It!
Annihilator (Lesser Ward) - Mostly through keep takes. With
the advent of much more common city sieges (and thus invader,
warlord, and sovereign gear), the introduction of LoTD with the
destro warcamp PQ (conqueror), the new conqueror potential in
busy keep battles, and the speed of renown gain compared to
in the past, it is not uncommon for folks to skip finishing their
annihilator set and go right to greater ward armor.
Bloodlord (Lesser Ward) - From Bastian Stairs, an instance off
of Chaos Wastes, this is the PvE alternative to Annihilator. Since
peeps play WAR mostly for RvR (realm vs realm aka PvP) you might
find it tough to get bloodlord groups together for just lesser ward.
Invader (Greater Ward) - With the elimination of Fort battles, the
massive version of the game's keep battles, city sieges are now
fairly common and attacking and defending cities and in stage 1
leads to lots of invader gear. No ward required for city sieges,
just rank of 30. The city sieges are entirely new as of April 2010
and there is a complete discussion of them in the sidebar.
Conqueror (Greater Ward) - Do the destro wc PQ event in LoTD
every time the zone flips (get there fast). Being at the big keep
battles is another way, the destro wc PQ probably will greatly
speed that up though. No ward required for LoTD destro wc nor
keep battles.
Sentinel (Greater Ward) - Crypts & Tunnels, the latter being some
of the worst trash-to-clear PvE in the game, the former just fine and
more interesting. Return trip count to gear up isn't horribly bad here.
You'll want both a mt and ot (main tank and off tank) to handle the
last boss of crypts (for sentinel chestpiece). Lesser ward is required
for Crypts and Tunnels.
Darkpromise (Excelsior Ward) - Often through many, many trips to
Lost Vale. I've commonly seen 30+ trips to get one's first 2-3 pieces.
It is a very pretty instance with many of the classic boss challenges
of mmos. You really want to do this with at least one experienced
person calling the shots. For your first time, get the quest just
inside Altdorf temple entrance and be sure to pick up ALL the
crystals on the way through left wing of LV and talk to every spirit
of the everqueen after each boss challenge. It is important that your
mt (main tank) be set-up for minimum crit hits to himself. Greater
ward is required for this instance.
Tyrant (Excelsior Ward) - Gotten through lots and lots of trips to
especially the higher levels of the Tomb of the Vulture Lord. Not the
best gear for all class specs out there. All the same prereqs and
suggestions for Lost Vale (LV) apply here, too, including greater
ward. Boss encounters above level 6 in tovl (7-8) are more problematic
than any in LV imo. You MUST have someone with expertise at these
higher levels.
Warlord (Excelsior Ward) - One way to get the warlord crests is
through lots and lots of RvR against very high renown enemy. Those
transferring from servers with more higher level enemy often have
an advantage obviously. Another way to get warlord now is from
stage 2 of the 3 city siege stages. Warlord for some class specs is
great, but for some really not, check out the stats to see if this is really
what you want. The ward is used primarily for end encounters of city
siege events, but of course again also grants you every ward below
for each fragment.
Sovereign (Supreme Ward) - Surprisingly not that great armor for
many class specs, consider checking stats to be sure it is really
the right armor for you. Royal crests to buy it and Sovereign armor
rolls come mostly from the last stage (stage 3) of the city siege events.
The ward is used primarily for end encounters of city siege events, but
of course will grant you every ward below Sovereign for each fragment.
Note: Gloves and Boots (and sovereign jewelry) for most
of these are purchasable on the Auction House
If you have any ideas for additional info to add about
wards or armor, let me know! See "Contact Dwooid"
on the sidebar for contact info.
Best Regahds,
Dwooid of Caledor