Header Spotlight: Juggler

The Header Spotlight segment is a way to deliver some information about the specific Headers and to highlight their strengths and weaknesses.

Today, we'll be covering the Juggler. 

The Juggler covers two common Archetypes in fantasy - The jester and the expert with thrown weapons.  While the class primarily focuses on the latter, we decided to throw a single skill in for the other.

If you're playing a Juggler, your primary means of attack are thrown weapons.  Accurate toss allows you to throw them for called damage and Flick of the Wrist allows you to throw them for Agony.  You can even keep throwing weapons after a Maim if you pick up the Muscle Memory skill.  And you can use the Showmanship ability to keep enemies at bay.

On the defensive side, you have the ability to catch missile weapons to avoid the effects, and can even throw them back with the Return Fire ability, making you a difficult target for double and triple missile attacks.  

The two capstone skills are Flurry of Daggers (which allows you unlimited 2 Damage or Root attacks as long as your feet are planted) and Juggler's Performance, where you give a short juggling/comedic routine in order to refresh attributes of those who watch.

Good Header Combinations: Acrobat (Even more defensive actions), Duelist (Longsword + Throwing Daggers anyone?)

Pro: The Juggler is the best class when dealing with missile attacks.  They can use Deft Hands to negate them at no cost!  Also, they have a fair amount of battlefield control with Repels/Agony, and who doesn't like Attribute Refreshes! 

Con: All the Juggling in the world isn't going to help you if you've got a fighter on top of you.  You'll probably need some help to keep yourself disengaged. 

Would you play a Juggler?  Could you muster up a Juggler's Performance?  Let us know in the comments!

Header Spotlight: Sentinel

The Header Spotlight segment is a way to deliver some information about the specific Headers and to highlight their strengths and weaknesses.

Today, we'll be covering the Sentinels. 

Some call them leaders.  Others call them tacticians.  And even some call them Paladins.  Whatever you decide to call them, the archetype of the warrior that inspires their troops is common among most fantasy stories.  And so we decided to include it.

The Sentinel is a martial class that focuses on group buff through inspiring speeches.  They are often found leading groups of people into battle, as their skill in speaking inspires greatness in those that follow them.

While the Sentinel is not equipped with any offensive attacks of their own, they do have a number of defenses that they can use regularly.  Vigor and Heavily armored allow them to wade into the front lines without fear of falling.  Courage allows them to wade into the front lines without fear of, well, Fear.  And Rally Bretheren gives them the ability to Cure Mental for cheap, but it requires that you use that person's name.  That's a pretty good reason to get to know the people you'll be fighting with.

For utility skills, they also are able to Repel by Gesture using Heroic Presence, and have access to the Trauma Expert skill, which allows them to stabilize others at will.

But let's be honest, if you're playing a Sentinel, you're doing it for the speeches.

The Sentinel has 4 speeches that they can deliver to give buffs to those who listen, as each provides a "By My Voice" benefit.  Bolster Defense grants everyone a Guard Physical, Boost Courage grants everyone a Shield Fear, and Lead the Charge grants everyone a melee attack for 2 Damage.  But the capstone ability, Inspiring Speech, allows the Sentinel to spend a Spirit to Refresh the Spirit of others.

We didn't define the length of the speech, based on our "I like Nice things..." adage  but in general, we're expecting speeches that range from maybe 20 seconds to a minute.  Normally, we're expecting these speeches to be made before a battle, so you're unlikely to be rushed.  We also made it so that you can only give one speech per full rest, to prevent spamming of these speeches in battle, but this is something that may change in the future (if we have tons of awesome Sentinels looking to give more speeches).  

Good Header Combinations: Shield Bearer (So defensive, never have to leave the front lines), Bard (if you like to talk, maybe you like to sing?).

Pro: By My Voice Grants are amazing and can turn the tides of battle.  Most efficient grants from the point of attribute expendature. 

Con: Not a lot of offense, not a lot of internal defensive skills.  If you don't like public speaking, or don't want to get over your fears of it, probably not the class for you. 

Would you play a Sentinel?  What kinds of speeches would you give if you did?  Let us know in the comments!

Header Spotlight: Duelist

The Header Spotlight segment is a way to deliver some information about the specific Headers and to highlight their strengths and weaknesses.

Today, we'll be covering the Duelist. 

In an attempt to create incentives for different fighting styles, we designed the paper-rock-scissors of the Shield Bearer-Blade Dancer-Brute.  But we also wanted to encourage people who prefer to fight with less optimal fighting styles, such as one sword, sword/dagger, or sword buckler.  And that's what the Duelist is.

The Duelist is a capable fighter who focuses most of his power into a single one handed weapon.  They have some of the best attacks and defenses, but burn through Attributes extremely fast.

For attacks, the Duelist has Precise Strikes for damage, Winded for Silence, and Death Strike for a Double Death!  That's really hard to beat.

For Defenses, they have the Agile skill for Armor, Vigor for Vitality, Optimism to resist Stricken, Reflexes to Avoid missile and packet attacks, and Riposte, which can be used to turn a melee attack on itself.  Finally, if you are a skilled Fencer, you become immune to Disarm (as long as you're wielding Duelist weapons).

The Stance for the Duelist is unusually, as most stances require a player to plant their feet.  Instead, you can grant yourself 1 protection after each flurry, which is pretty handy.

All and all, if you like using an underrated fighting style and have a few attributes to toss around, the Duelist is a pretty decent header.

Good Header Combinations: Shield Bearer (If you use a buckler), Blade Dancer (If you use a dagger).

Pro: The Duelist has a great selection of defensive and offensive skills.  Probably better than any one header.  

Con: You cannot fight with an "optimal" fighting style, with the best possible situations being sword/buckler or sword/dagger.

Would you play a Duelist? Would you use a Buckler, Dagger, or nothing?  Let us know in the comments!

Header Spotlight: Blade Dancer

The Header Spotlight segment is a way to deliver some information about the specific Headers and to highlight their strengths and weaknesses.

Today, we'll be covering the Blade Dancer. 

The Blade Dancer is the classic, two weapon fighter we all know and love.  Their skills are often based on blocking or striking with one weapon, only to follow up with another.  It is one of the three fighting styles in the rock/paper/scissors setup with skills that help defeat a Brute.

Blade Dancer attacks include Counterattack (three 2 Damage attacks, usable after blocking), Bait Attack (Disarm, usable after blocking), and Savage Cuts (Stricken, usable after a successful attack).

Blade Dancer defensive abilities include Heavily Armored (Gain 1 Armor), Strong Grip (Resist Disarm), Vigor (Gain 1 Vitality) and Flurry of Steel (Parry any melee/missile/packet with 2 weapons).

The two capstone skills for the Blade Dancer are Double Up and Metal Maelstrom.  Double Up allows you to, after successfully striking an enemy, make the same call on your next attack with the other weapon.  However, the attack must normally be a weapon attack, and the attack is consumed whether you hit or not.

Metal Maelstrom is the stance for the Blade Dancer, reducing the cost of all Blade Dancer abilities by 1 as long as you remain conscious, keep your feet planted, and can continue to use both of your weapons.  

One big thing to note: unlike NERO, you can fight with two long swords.  That is not a typo in the rules.  We've heard that it's a decent fighting style in other games, and we're willing to give it a shot.  But if you're going to do that, please fight safe. 

Good Header Combinations: Spellsword (Channeling works well), Duelist (If you're good at fighting sword/dagger).

Pro: The Duelist is extremely good at dealing with melee, with an abundance of disarms and damage.  And when you're in your stance, you're pretty hard to stop (considering Flurry of Steel only costs 1).  

Con: You don't really have a ton of defensive abilities, and maims/destroys can really reduce your effectiveness.  Just make sure to keep your swords away from those Destroys!

Are you planning on using two long swords? Would you play a Blade Dancer?  Let us know in the comments!

Header Spotlight: Acrobat

The Header Spotlight segment is a way to deliver some information about the specific Headers and to highlight their strengths and weaknesses.

Today (for the second time), we'll be covering the Acrobat. 

The Acrobat is one of the quintessential roguish archetypes, focusing on their ability to (literally) escape tight places.  Something like this can often be hard to reproduce in a Larp setting, where WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get).  

For that reason, we focused on two key things with the class - resistance to movement imparing abilities, and battlefield awareness.

When it comes to dealing with movement-restricting abilities, there is no Header that has as many defenses as the Acrobat.  Quick Feet and Quick Escape allow the Acrobat to Resist Root and Purge Paralyze (respectively).  Contortionist and Escape Artist take a little more time, but give the Acrobat the ability to Purge Maim, Root, Paralyze, and Shackles without any attribute cost.  And the Always on the Move skill makes them immune to Slow.

As far as defensive skills, the Acrobat has access to Agile (more armor) and Reflexes (Avoid missile or packet attacks), which are both pretty solid.

On the other hand, the Acrobat has access to a Disengage (Cunning Defense), a short Maim (Joint Pressure), both of which can help manage a chaotic battlefield.

Finally, the Acrobat has one Unique skill that no class can match.  The Keen Senses skill allows them to call "Resist Ambient" against any effect caused by a movement-related misstep.  This can be a little confusing, but let's put it another way.  If you're on the jumping stones mod, and the floor is lava, you may normally take some damage or a death effect by stepping in the laval.  The Acrobat, on the other hand, can do some crazy moves based on the fact that they can resist those effects.  Heck, they could even run across the lava, if they had enough Air attributes!  

Good Header Combinations: Hexer (Good Use of Purges), Guardian (Good use of purges), Warrior (more purges and good basic damage).

Pro: Extremely powerful in situations with a lot of movement-impairing effects.

Con: Acrobat only helps keep you in the fight.  It doesn't actually improve your fighting, and you'll need to get damage or support from another header.

What is your favorite Acrobat skill? Can you see yourself playing one?  Let us know in the comments!

Header Spotlight: Warrior

The Header Spotlight segment is a way to deliver some information about the specific Headers and to highlight their strengths and weaknesses.

Today, we'll be covering the Warrior. 

It's easy for someone to play with swords or fight with a shield.  But being a Warrior is more than the ability to fight - it's a way of life. The Warrior is designed to promote the use of any weapon style, with attacks that can be used with both melee and ranged weapons, making them good as all-around fighters.  

The Dual Strike and Expert Strike abilities give some good damage while Hamstring can be used to slow down your enemies.  But the Warrior really shines in all the defensive abilities, like parrying melee attacks, resisting drain, purging maim/slow/weakness, and repairing their own weapon.  And with Combat Expertise, they can reduce the cost of all those abilities by one. 

Good Header Combinations: Guardian (Use Purges to help Favors), Spellsword (Get some offense through spells).

Pro: If you're interested in using different fighting styles, you might find that the Warrior Header will help keep you from getting boxed into one fighting style.

Con: A Warrior is like a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to fighting.  Other fighting headers will most likely be more effective than the Warrior when using their favored style.

Are you going to take Warrior? Do you plan on using it for your primary fighting style, or using it to supplement one of the other Martial Headers?  Let us know in the comments!

Header Spotlight: Shield Bearer

The Header Spotlight segment is a way to deliver some information about the specific Headers and to highlight their strengths and weaknesses.

Today, we'll be covering the Shield Bearer. 

What boffer game would this be if we didn't have a Header dedicated to using a shield.  (Ironically, I think it would be Exiles or Wastelands, but that's another story!).  The Shield Bearer is an expert using their shield, and in turn protecting themselves and their team.  They get some excellent skills that help them deal with the dangers of adventuring.

The Shield Bearer has no offensive abilities, but their defensive capabilities are matched by none.  Partial Deflection and Deflect give them the ability to turn away most attacks, Shield Familiarity and Strapped Shield (which doesn't actually require you to strap your shield) allow you to continue to use your shield despite maims and destroys.  Headstrong, Battlefield Positioning, and Shield Wall allow you to control the flow of battle. Finally, Shield Reflex gives you some sustainability with a free guard after each rest.

One thing to note is that in a 1v1 fight, the Shield Bearer will probably still lose against a Brute.  In the paper/rock/scissors that is the fighter meta, the Brute is expected to out fight a Shield Bearer, because a well placed Sunder will remove the Shield from the fight.  However, if working as part of a team, the Shield Bearer can outlast the Brute, as Shield Familiarity costs less than Sunder. 

Good Header Combinations: Warrior (Gives some damage and purges), Runesmith (Repair Runes help mitigate destroys and refresh armor), Duelist (Good damage if you're using a buckler)

Pro: If you're looking for a Header that's going to let you lead the charge and survive in dangerous situations, this is the one for you.  Works great for anyone who plans on using a full sized shield (if you have the CP). 

Con: The one thing that this Header lacks is damage.  Without someone to help you or another Header, you won't be able to punch through a paper bag.  

Are you going to take Shield Bearer?  What do you think the fighter meta is going to look like?  Let us know in the comments!

Header Spotlight: Assassin

The Header Spotlight segment is a way to deliver some information about the specific Headers and to highlight their strengths and weaknesses.

Today, we'll be covering the Assassin. 

What game wouldn't be complete without an Assassin!  This archetype exists in most fantasy stories and in a large number of games in the genre, so we would be remiss to not have this Header in our game.

In WAR Accelerant, Assassins specialize in using poisons on weapons.  Unlike other classes, they can put multiple poisons on a single blade, and they can do it extremely fast!  They also have access to the Unassuming skill, which is pretty great if you're being hunted.  You can essentially silently resist any AoE "Expose."  The capstone abilities include a death attack from behind, as well as an ability that makes you more effective when you're hunting a bounty!

Here's a quick note about Contract Killer.  The contract must be physical, but it can be from anyone.  We had questions about what would happen if Assassins gave each other contracts for the same guy, but ultimately it's a rather expensive CP investment and Contract Killer is a Daily skill, so it can't really be abused (but I have been wrong before.)

Good Header Combinations: Alchemist (Someone's got to make the poisons), Duelist/Blade Dancer (Defenses, fun with two weapons with poisons), Runesmith (to get the Weapon Rune of Poisoning)

Pro: If you've got the rogue walk down, and you've got a healthy supply of poisons, you're going to be highly effective against the average man walking down the street.  It's a pretty decent "Lone Wolf" Header. 

Con: If you run into something with resistances or immunities to poisons (Bloodmage, Elementals) you may lose a significant amount of effectiveness.  Also, you don't have many defenses on your own, so targets who survive through your surprise attack may be tough to bring down.    

Would you play an Assassin?  What poisons would you have on your blade, given the choice?  Let us know in the comments!

Header Spotlight: Brute

The Header Spotlight segment is a way to deliver some information about the specific Headers and to highlight their strengths and weaknesses.

Today, we'll be covering the Brute Header. 

The Brute is a devastating warrior who wields a mighty two-handed weapon.  We understand that two-handed weapons are often not the most effective weapons in LARPs, due to realism constraints (you can't overpower shields or weapons).  So instead, we designed it to have some serious tools.

I will say, we designed the fighting system to feel like a paper-rock-scissors.  The Brute has certain tools that makes them especially good at beating Shield Bearers (Sword and Board).  Sunder is pretty devastating against Shields, and once you land that sunder, the Great Cleave skill is going to punch through.  However, Blade Dancers (Two Weapon Fighters) can neutralize Brutes with Disarm.  So there's that.

Great Cleave is great damage, and Aggressive Stance allows you to pull off an amazing Smash stance, which gives the Brute amazing field control.  If you see a Brute in the field, you should take care.  And if other fighters get in on you, you can always use Frightful Presence to Disengage.

Good Header Combinations: Spellsword (Easy to free up a hand), Hexer (Great Status effects to complement Brute Damage)

Pro: It's got amazing damage, and Sunder is going to help you break shield walls with little effort.  Great addition to the team. 

Con: Blade Dancers might be a problem, and you're extremely vulnerable to disarms.  And once fighters get on you.    

Would you play a Brute?  What fighting styles would you use in your optimal fighting team?  Let us know in the comments!

Header Spotlight: Rogue

The Header Spotlight segment is a way to deliver some information about the specific Headers and to highlight their strengths and weaknesses.

Today, we'll be covering the Rogue Header. 

The Rogue is a common archetype throughout fantasy, and we would be remiss to leave it out.  In WAR Accelerant, the Rogue is a martial class with a large focus on survival, particularly when it comes to traps.  As one of the generalist classes, it's got some great tools at it's disposal if you go deep enough.  

Like many other games, you can't even try and pick locks or disarm traps without the proper skill.  The Rogue is currently the only header that can!  That means that most adventuring groups are going to want someone to take the rogue header.

However, they've got some great offensive qualities (3 damage from behind and disarm), and have some of the best defensive qualities (stabilize self for 2 fire, and an elude after 5 minutes of rest!).  And a rogue with Backstab mastery and Luck has some great sustain, and can be at least partially effective without blowing any attributes or daily abilities in a fight.

Good Header Combinations: Warrior (Another all-around class with defenses and offensive strikes), Cryomancer (Good control and reduced water cost on Evade), Scalawag (Cheat Death and Hard to Kill are an insane combo)

Pro: If you're going for a Jack-of-All-Trades build, the Rogue is second to none.  You'll be useful in almost any situation, although you're not the best in all situations. 

Con: Without a niche, you may never be the guy who saves the day (well, unless it involves traps or locks).  If you're hoping to specialize, this isn't the best way to do it.  

Does your team have a Rogue in it?  If you were a Rogue, what header would you combo it with?  Let us know in the comments!

Header Spotlight: Archer

The Header Spotlight segment is a way to deliver some information about the specific Headers and to highlight their strengths and weaknesses.

Today, we'll be covering the Archer Header. 

What game would be complete without the Archer Archetype.  Many have suffered through this being just another fighting style in a game where other styles are superior, but no more!  In our game, the Archer was designed as an absolute glass cannon, and a skilled archer is going to require some attention, or they're going to devastate fighter lines.  

Currently, all Bows in WAR Accelerant are represented by boffer bows and packet archery.  For differentiation between packets, we require streamers on the arrows, but these do not have to be very long or unwieldy - 3" should be sufficient to identify streamer packets but not long enough to tangle.  Each archer gets a free quiver of 20 arrows (no tags), and it takes 60 seconds of roleplay to refill the quiver (unless you use your skill).  You can only use your own arrows, and you can't carry multiple quivers - the goal is that archers cannot put out sustained damage.

All that aside, the Archer probably has the best damage output of any header in the game.  The Steady Aim skill is a high risk, high reward skill offering a possible 10 damage for 1 attribute!  But with all that damage comes the downside that this header offers no real defense, other than Vigor and Armor.

Good Header Combinations: Acrobat (Lots of Defensive Skills), Warrior (Good all around skills for fighter types)

Pro: If you're good with packets and you want to do damage, Archer is really the way to go.  As mentioned before, no Header puts out as much damage.  Also great for people who don't like to get up close and personal.

Con: An Archer is fairly fragile, and without the support of others, Archers probably won't last very long on the field, especially against an enemy that counts arrows.

If you were playing an Archer, what Headers would you like your partner/team to have?  Let us know in the comments!