- by Enofin, Outstanding WL of the realm, purveyor of organic lion food
Hunter's Pride, I'm Enofin Windglade one of the few remaining White Lions
in the front lines holding back the tide of darkness. I'm here today to train
you young cubs to be proud hunters and warriors within the White Lion
ranks. Understand we are hunters of the lands and deadly warriors of our
kin the Azur, we stand to fight for our homes, for our pride, and for our
very survival.
Our path is a deadly one for we do not run, we charge our pray, we do not
hide, we stock our quarry, we stand for our pride the Azur and bring the light
of victory to the darken field of lost hope. We stand with our war lions that
we have trained since their cub years, for they are a part of who we are and
we are part of who they are. We are Hunters of the Wild, We are Warriors
of honor, for we do not run, we do not hide, we stand for our Pride, for our
hopes and dreams, for we are White Lions!!
OK role-playing aside lets get to the point shall we. Now many of you who
read this might have heard a lot of bad things about the WL, they have crappy
dps, AP stinks, war lion buggy as hell and so on and so forth. Then again you
might have heard good things about the class, how much fun they can be to
play, and so on, well I'm here to get things on track for those of you who would
like to play the class but aren't sure because of all the bad rep.
OK first:
Yes the AP for WLs goes fast, more so than the WH believe it or not.
Second:
Yes the war lion can be buggy but it's no where near as bad as it has been.
Third:
WL dps can be as good as any other dps class, however, our handycap comes
from the same source as our strength, our war lion, which is where our extra dps
comes from, much like a slayer's axes, our WL is that second axe. But take that
away and the dps we throw out will drop significantly, so keeping your pet alive
is important. It is also a good idea to hit the same target unless you need
to play decoy. Basically this means that you pretty much keep two targets busy
to save a fellow player or to give you and your team the edge they need to win.
Chapter #1: Paths
So now down to business of the class itself and for which there are three paths
you can take each with their own means of throwing out that dps needed to bring
down your enemy.
First the Path of the Hunter, this path is mostly a support build. Your main
focus will be weapon skill and toughness, backed up by wounds. With this build
you are mainly support sticking to the group and living as long as you can while
throwing out single to aoe attacks to weaken the enemy so that the group can
tear on through. You can then boost your str with talismans and also boost your
weapon skill, as well, and with this you'll be able to bring down as much pain as
possible due to the fact that you live longer and can throw out those attacks while
your AP recovers.
It would be a good idea to have items that help build your AP back faster
since with this path you'll be draining it quick. And always keep your war lion
close to you, as with this path you can have your war lion attack another target
while you are on another, but be sure your war lion is within 30 feet of you at
all times if you can for max dps output from both of you.
Second the Path of the Axeman, now this path is all out dps build so you'll
want to have str and weapon skill backed up by toughness at least for the first few
tiers any ways. Once you've gotten to tier 4 it's best you go full str and wounds
backed up by weapon skill. However, this build also means you have to keep
moving as your target isn't just going to stand there and let you smack their sides
or back, so you and your war lion need to be on the same target making sure
you're always at their sides or back. Because of this it makes the axeman path
a little harder then the other two paths because you have to keep moving to stay
at their sides or back to get max dps, so that is the key to making this path work,
keep moving if you can. As for talismans you'll want str and wounds talismans so
you can keep throwing out that dps and you as well as your war lion will have that
extra bit of wounds needed to stay in the fight.
Third the Path of the Guardian, now for this path you're mostly defensive so
you'll want toughness and initiative backed up by weapon skill for your RR points.
The reason for this is that you're pretty much off-tanking while your war lion is the
one throwing out the dps. So you want to stay in the front keeping the target on
you while the war lion mews the heck out of them. So for talismans you'll really
want toughness, weapon skill, and wounds if you can get that combo which will
help you out a lot if in prolonged battles. Also, be sure to use Throat Bite on
healers and casters every time it cools down. Obviously with this build you
have a higher survival rate then the others, also with this you'll want to build
an hp regain build around it making it that much more harder for healers and even
casters to bring you down before you bring them down.
Anyways these are just guides, they're not there to tell you this is how to play the
class. This is what I've worked with in the past and still works even on a zerg fest
server. These builds have served me well and I hope for those future WLs they will
for you, as well.
A few other help full tips:
If your target tries to run that's a good time to use fetch or pounce, either way
just stay on them and you'll bring them down. As for multi-pathing well that's up to
you the player on which build works best for you. Find what works and stick with it.
White Lions are a great class but with a steep learning curve on how to play them
right, which for those that like a challenge then this might be a great class for you.
Good luck and happy hunting, I'll see you all on the field of battle, bring victory to
lost hope =).
Chapter #2: Crushing Healers, Survivability, and AP
In response to popular demand here are some follow-up subjects on white lions,
some sample builds for the most popular white lion build questions and a
discussion on white lion AP management ideas. Regarding the sample builds,
I can't stress this enough, everything comes down to you as to how well your
white lion will perform out on the battlefield.
1) Sample Build for Crushing Healers
Here are a few ways that I've learned to be able to take healers down.
In the lower tiers Sundering Chop, Coordinated Strike, and Lions Fury under
Train to Threaten so your war lion will snare while sundering their armor, making
your attacks do more damage. There are a few ways to make the most out of this
.. you can either boost your strength to throw out more dps or you can boost your
weapon skill for pure armor penetration to make your attacks really hit hard. Of
course, you can also try various levels of balance between the two.
In the lower tiers it's a little hard finding armor, jewelry sets, and the like to boost
your weapon skill, so I would go pure strength then once in late t3-t4 area try out
weapon skill and see if that works best for you.
For those who might be wondering what path is best for this, well to tell you the
truth all paths work well if builded well but Axeman has a one up over the other
paths since it has a heal debuff combine that with throat bite and make sure
to use your Blindsided tactic so the heals build up takes longer. Also make
sure you have Flanking tactic.
In T4 having Brute Force and Full Grown tactic with this build will help to further
throw that damage down on the healers.
You should be able to cut down healers now and in so doing getting the respect
and attention you deserve from the destro healer bodyguard team. Of course, if
the enemy is very organized and focus fire you down, do your best to stay on
the healer and you might at least take a key enemy healer down with you.
Enjoy those hunts young cubs.
2) Sample Build for Survivability
With this build you'll want to build yourself to be more defensive while at the
same time building your war lion to be offensive. The best way to do this is
to use your renown points to make yourself defensive including armor and
jewelry, and make sure you've got wounds and strength talismans on to give
your war lion a better damage output and live longer in fights. You'll also want
to go down the Path of the Guardian for this, making sure your tactic build
is a defensive one.
While under this build Furious Mending tactic is a must. Any items you
see that give you wounds-over-time equip it since with this you'll be getting
wounds back every 3 to 4 secs.
Baited Trap and Flashing Claws, in addition to Furious Mending, are excellent
defensive tactics, and the fourth is up in the air based on want you are looking
for. I normally use Bend the Winds since under this build I go after casters
and since a lot of them use elemental attacks gives me a better chance to
get to them with out their dots killing me, though I sometimes have Brute Force
tactic to give me a little more damage output, but with this it all comes down to
your war lion, it dies and there goes a lot of your damage so be careful under this
build .. you'll live longer but your war lion is your dps. Like with most classes
you need to find the balance that works for you.
3) AP Management
Now on to the big topic of AP.
Under Path of the Hunter, consider making your two main attacks Hack and
Slashing Blade and use the tactic that will reduce the amount of AP cost
for these attacks.
Also you'll want to have Pack Hunting tactic which boosts your auto attack
speed though this may end up changing with the coming of patch 1.3.5, so
when this patch comes out I'll test this out to see if it's even worth having the
tactic any more.
Also while under Path of the Hunter you might consider going weapon skill
heavy and consider using Discerning Offense tactic with it. I stick with
Brute Force, Hack and Slash, Pack Hunting, and Pack Synergy and this
works well since I'm builded for critting and throwing out that extra bit of damage.
This build is also the only one that has any real AoE for the White Lion so if
you've gone weapon skill heavy with this build consider combining Whirling
Axe with Echoing Roar to give tightly packed Destro a reason to spread out.
Of course, if you are too far out front to get heals, guard, or flank support you
are more than likely going to go down fast so be sure you keep that in mind
before charging or Pouncing in to a group of Destro .. you might as well get
fetched into a premade blender.
So to all you White Lions out there, here there are some examples and ideas
to hopefully help you out. Of course, you need to choose what works for you
and what doesn't but always keep these facts in mind while building your
White Lion:
A) Path of the Axeman: Always, and I mean always, keep moving and
stay at their sides and back.
B) Path of the Guardian: Keep your war lion alive if you can, it's your main
source of dps
C) Path of the Hunter: Be mindful of large groups and work along side
your war lion
Chapter #3: More Tips!
Alright young cubs listen up, I've got more training tips for you that could very
well save your lives out in that Khaine-be-damned blood bath of a hunt, so
listen well, if you must take notes:
Now that I've had some time to work with things since the patch I'll be going over
if AA (auto attack) boost is worth it and I will also be going over other ways for
you to fight both in the lower tiers as well as the upper ones. Also I'll take the
time to go over tactic builds as well as what pots/liniments best work with what
builds.
Tactics: Lower Tiers
Now this is one key point for us WLs ... which tactics work well with each other
and which ones just seem useless. Well, your build will pretty much determine
what you'll need to be using to best make use of your current build setup.
Lower tiers tactics is an easy one since you don't have a lot to work with, so it's
best that you stick with Centuries of Training tactic for quite some time. Once
you get two tactics, however, you should make sure you have Brute Force as one
of your main tactics to help boost your strength, and as for the other tactic you can
stick with CoT. However, if from the early start you go for a crit build set-up you'll
want to use Jagged Edge and Pack Synergy as your main set-up but in another
tactic row be sure to have BF and CoT there and ready just in case.
In the lower tiers there really isn't a defensive tactic build for your WL so you'll have
to rely on talismans, gear, and renown points to make up for that. Now once you've
gotten three tactic spots this will open up some more options and the next options
depends on the build you're going for. Those, however, I'll go over later on so for now
these tips are yours to do with, because as I've said "Everything comes down to you
the player and what you want out of it," so have fun and try new builds that you think
might work.
Tactic Builds for Higher Tiers
This area is for those with 3-4 tactic slots. If you're going for a crit build set-up I do
strongly suggest you consider these for three slots, Jagged Edge, Pack Synergy,
and Brute Force. For those with four slots, Jagged Edge, Pack Synergy, Brute Force
and Flanking.
Also Full Grown in the Axeman path would also be good since you're relying on
strength much more. This is mostly built around the Axeman build with Train to
Threaten and if you back this up with an AP regain gear setup you'll be throwing
out some nice burst damage with some nice crit power.
Now for those going more Hunter for group support with three slots I suggest you
consider Brute Force, Lion Heart and Pack Hunting, also Flashing Claws or
Discening Offense will also work well. Now as for four slots I suggest you consider
Brute Force, Lion Heart, Pack Hunting, and Hack and Slash. Again this best works
with high weapon skill and AP regen gear build with which you'll be able to throw out
enough damage to keep enemy players away from your healers unless they steam
roll in, then all you can do is give them a nice road block to give your healer time to
flee.
So now on to the defensive build for those that have three slots, I suggest you
consider the combination of Flashing Claws, Riposte, and Centuries of Training,
and those with four slots, Flashing Claws, Riposte, Furious Mending, and Baited
Trap, backed up with defensive gear or if you can Wound regen items and armor
build with this, and it works best with Guardian path.
Tailmans
I know I've gone over this before, but with those tailman slots you'll have on your gear
for that crit build. make sure you have wounds or toughness tailmans equipped to help
boost your war lion up. However, if you want to go for max damage output then go
strength heavy backed up by some weapon skill or crit tailmans so you can max the
damage you do under this build.
For Hunter I strongly suggest you go weapon skill heavy backed by strength. Other
than that this path is fairly easy in terms of builds and setups.
Now for your defensive/Guardian build, toughness or armor will be your main foucs if
you wish to max your defensive build. Some weapon skill will help, as well. But if
you're looking to also boost your war lion and make up for the lack of dps you'll want
to go str/weapon skill to better make use of the White Lion and war lion working
together.
AA Boost
Now alot of you out there might be asking if it's worth having AA (auto attack) boost
since you cant stack it any more, right? Well I've had some time to play around with
it and my answer to the question is yes. Even if you can't stack it, it is still very much
worth having that extra bit of hitting power.
So hopefully this will help all you new and more experienced studying WL players out
there or at least give you an idea on how to go about your class. With each new battle
your skills will be tested and you may find yourself changing builds and setups. Well
don't be to worried about it since that is common since there are many higher rank and
geared players and I know it makes things hard to do facing them down, but once you've
found that hook that works for you, this class can make for some extremely dangerous
mdps out there. Once you've gotten to higher rr you'll be given more chances to play
around with builds and setups until you find that one that works best for you.
I'm right now working on some new kind of combo builds, well not really new but best
for the more experienced WL players and I'll go over those once I've gotten what works
and what doesn't so you won't have to find out yourself. Hunter's Pride!
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Dwooid Note: If there are more WL subjects you'd like Enofin
to cover, or comments you'd like me to pass on, obviously feel
free to contact him directly or send it to me through the "Contact
Dwooid" address on the sidebar and I'll send it on to him :).