The Slayer: OhIltswaltMDPSca*

Keero

Tribe of Judah Membership Administrator
*Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the MDPS class again.

Just a thread about Slayer impressions and thoughts on the class. Feel free to discuss the class and how much it rocks.

Tidbit -- WAR Alliance Forums recommend building a Slayer with this order of stats -- Crit % -> Strength -> Weapon Skill -> Wounds - > Armor. Toughness is kinda meh compared to the raw damage you can have with the other stats. I usually ran at full Berserk and specced into the Skaven Slayer tree.

Tier 1 Impressions: :eek:

Prepare to die. A lot. You won't have the most armor and everyone and their mother will focus fire you, especially in Scenarios. Found my niche in ORVR Lakes by flanking the blobs of Destro, getting behind their healers, and AOEing them in the backside with good ole fashion Flurry (one of your Bread n' Butter attacks for both RVR/PVE). You will have about the same lifespan of a Bright Wizard with attacks that are "decent" like a Tank but nothing mind blowing. Recommend doing PQ/PVE when not getting those Renown Ranks. Pulverizing Strike is good for tanks, Relentless Strike for softies, and Flurry for when you feel like it. Spine Crusher will help with the oblivious enemy (circle-strafing right on the enemy allows you to hit their back easily which works wonders for PVE.)

Your a glass pistol (not cannon) at this stage of your career. Just plow through it.

No bling yet, but we'll get there~~


Tier 2 Impressions: :D

This is where the fun begins. As you begin getting normal equips, you'll soon find that your survivability is improving a lot more than Tier 1. Even with Berserk, I could still 1v1 or 1v2 Destro players without breaking a sweat or popping a potion. As you reach rank 14 or so, you'll be able to solo plenty of the PVE content (at R14 I was soloing R17~18 mobs, one or two at a time though) and Flurry will help aid in mowing down PQ mobs (around your level) with ease.

Leveling early on for me was usually running Scenarios + PVE content until about rank 15~16 when I could slot Takin' Chances tactic and found some good gear to help balance my damage and lifespan. You'll shoot through the ranks in a day or two by taking keeps, Battlefield Objectives, and farming PQs for gear. At about rank 19 I was soloing Chosen, Choppas, and Witch Elves without issue.

These levels open up some group support skills like the Weapon Skill buff from Fierceness, 25% AP discount from Gudrun's Warcry, or a self-buffed Toughness depending on nearby enemies from Even The Odds. Main tactics to look out for is Takin' Chances (automatic Heal Over Time every four seconds which CAN save your tail time and time again) and Brute Force (additional STR). I can not stress enough how useful Takin' Chances and Reckless Gamble (deal 66 extra damage on EACH hit, 33 to yourself) is during this Tier. You can self-heal before a healer gets to you, negate enemy DoTs and also pump out some noticeable damage to make even the big burly Chaos and Orky boys run back to their momma. Oh, and your hands will continually glow red since RG is a toggle skill. ;)

Entire Team is BABIES!

For ORVR, having a pocket healer is extremely helpful. When I started reaching about 40% health, I would pop off Wild Swing (exhaust) and Distracting Roar (AOE detaunt) so I could get back to friendly healers. Breaking through the backline will get you focus fired and reward you with a melted face, so I usually stayed around the front/middle picking off tanks and Flurrying the backline when I got close enough to add some pressure to enemy healers. Feel free to use Charge (7 second run) to either close the gap or to escape enemies. I used it mainly to get from point to point by alternating it with Flee. :p Keep defense usually had me on Oil or helping out the tank wall. Flurry can kill fools that get to close and Takin' Chances helps you live longer while you get support from healers. Just because you can take extra damage doesn't mean you can't hang with the big boys.

Mosh pit of Pain. We Won at the end. :)

For Keep offense, you will usually be on the ram or smacking the door. As you make your way up the alternate ramp (yes, no more piling into the Keep Lord room and gaining crazy aggro) you'll take out Champions one by one until you get the Lord. Midlevels of Tier 2, I was usually there to activate Gudrun's Warcry/Fierceness to help burn down the Keep Lord.

You handle the face area, I'll take out the knees!

My life expectancy was about 80% out of all my T2 Keep Takes, only real issue was gaining too much aggro at the later levels. As you play Slayer (and I know you will), be sure to watch your health bar, the amount damage you will be/have coming in, and Destros that could be tag-teamed with an ally. As I move into Tier 3 this week, I'll be ending with this chat excerpt showing how impressive a Slayer can be. Be prepared to tank Keep Lords and Champions AND get the top three in loot rolls because of the damage you'll do and the tanking you'll be forced to do. Four tanks and none could hold a Keep Lords attention for longer than three seconds.


The Slayer rocks~~
 
I tried a slayer out for a little while, but it didn't appeal to me. For high melee damage I enjoy the witch hunter more, and if I want a nice compromise between damage and survivability I'll play my swordmaster.

Never got out of T1, though, so I probably missed most of the fun of the class.
 
I tried a slayer out for a little while, but it didn't appeal to me. For high melee damage I enjoy the witch hunter more, and if I want a nice compromise between damage and survivability I'll play my swordmaster.

Never got out of T1, though, so I probably missed most of the fun of the class.

Yeah, I did like the Witch Hunter, but it felt too "Rogue-ish", high damage low health. I enjoy the mechanics and look of the Slayer more so though.

zebedee said:
Good to see a post in this section! Thanks Keero!
Sure thing.
 
Oh I see how it is now Keero. With you playing slayer I've been dumped as a sidekick and replaced by a shorter hairier dude. I hope you two are happy in your dwaven hovel <me runs away crying>.

...And yes this means I missed you on TF2 Tuesday :p :).
 
Last edited:
I played a lot of TF2 Monday, was kinda burned out by all the crazy Pyro reflecting. xD
 
Back
Top