Winter Harvest Guide

v1.9.2a consists of the Winter Harvest live event. The strain of war has left Kislev unable to patrol High Pass with any reasonable degree of security. This coupled with a harsh winter has led to the pass being abandoned to the creatures who roam its rocky crags. The Raven Host has been using High Pass to funnel troops south from the Chaos Wastes into the lands of Kislev and the Empire, but the increase of large hungry creatures has made High Pass unsafe for all. With a particularly harsh winter setting in, it is up to you and your allies to drive back the hungry enemy and stock up your larders for what is to come.

Winter Harvest

Winter has always been a harsh time of year, but the northern lands are no stranger to winter and the harshness it brings. The men of Kislev rely on a steady grain trade from Talabecland to keep their larders full, while the warriors of the Chaos Wastes and Norsca sate themselves on flesh – mostly from beasts, but in the darkest days of winter all men are beasts. This winter however, the taint of sulfur is not the only thing blowing from the east. A large migration of hungry mouths has torn the countryside apart, sinking its hungering teeth into anything that moves. The forces of Order and Destruction alike are fighting a new foe…

Winter Harvest Intro

“Hold the wagons in tight formation. Keep your eyes on the horizon, you see so much as a rock fall you alert me!” a Kislevite officer shouted orders to his men as they entered rockier terrain and mountains drew nearer. The officer looked back at the tree line of the Dukhyls Forest as it faded behind them.

“Worry not Yevan, we are better suited to the open plains than in a forest,” a Gryphon lancer said riding up to the officer.

“We are easily spotted on the open plains, and there is no where to draw a defensive line,” the officer Yevan replied.

Reaver ~ Norse HDPS

“They are children of salt and storm, in the raging tempest they are at home. The raiding parties of Norsca which plague the shores of the Sea of Claws are led by these iron-souled warriors, and woe unto any defender who awakes in the night to the face of a Reaver. No pity, no mercy, just brutal determination. Not even the sea wants to swallow demons like that.”
~ Thodric Waveborn, Priest of Manaan

Reaver

Archetype – Heavy DPS

Armor – Heavy Splint

Weapon – Greataxe

Mechanic – Sea Raider

• You travel the seas raiding shoreline towns. Your keen eyes see the situation around you and allow you to adapt and change your approach. You may switch Raiding Approaches to better suit your situation.

Mastery Trees

• Ravager – You focus on dealing damage to your opponents.
• Pillager – You focus on heavily armored targets, weakening the core of your enemies’ defenses.
• Plunderer – You focus on increasing your survival while the battle rages around you.

Berserker ~ Norse MDPS

“Tall, strong, and deadly warriors. Though they have not accepted the gifts of Tzeentch, they compare in prowess to their eastern kin, the marauders of Chaos. If Tzeentch were to ever shift his winds but a little to the west and overcome western Norsca then the legions of the Raven God would be augmented greatly. Their only fault is their propensity to succumb to a state of rage; it has been noted to make them deadlier, though less concerned for their own well-being. Perhaps with the right touch of Chaos their minds could be molded to control this… madness.”
~ Excerpt from the Librum Chaotica

Berserker

Archetype – Melee DPS

Armor – Medium

Weapon – Dual-wield Axes

Mechanic – Norse Temperament

• Tasting the victory of many battles, your spirit is riled by the thought of bloodshed. As you engage in combat your Norse Temperament builds, from a base value of 0 to a maximum value of 100. Your strength and chance to critically hit will be higher as your Norse Temperament increases, but your toughness and initiative will decrease.

Mastery Trees

• War – You focus on taking on your enemy one on one.
• Decay – You focus on slowly weakening your enemy or doing damage to several targets
• Prowess – You channel your Norse Temperament for powerful attacks.

Whaler ~ Norse RDPS

“Those eyes, those eyes that see through the fog. Not one pair, but two. Few would dare the tempest of the frigid northern waters, and even fewer would dare the creatures which reign in those waters – waters so black that surely Chaos courses with the currents. To some they are brave, to others they are fools, but the Whalers of Norsca are among the bravest fools that sailed the Kraken Sea. Whether need or greed caused them to set forth into the churning waters, neither storm nor beast swallowed them whole. Back they came, and back they’ll go again.” – Aesgard Pergrin, Sjoktraken Scholar

Whaler

Archetype – Range DPS

Armor – Light

Weapon – Harpoon & Skinning Dagger

Mechanic – Norscan Wolf

• Whalers are among the few Norscan warriors bold enough to venture into the dark seas of the north, though their travels are made easier with the company of their powerful Norscan Wolves – always by the Whalers side ready to assist in the kill. Whalers can summon their Norscan Wolf to their side and switch between stances to better shape the synergy between man and beast.

Mastery Trees

• Harpooner – A focus on long range attacks with a defensive pet
• Hauler – A focus on medium range attacks with a mixed-utility pet
• Spearer – A focus on melee attacks with an offensive pet.

Vitki ~ Norse Healer

“Which is the stronger of the two – the raven’s feather or the autumn leaf? Neither, the wind takes both away and does as it wishes with them. The feather snaps, the leaf is crushed. Together they become dust and the wind does as it wills. The wind can give power to the sails or tear them to shreds. Heed the wind, the strong mind does not try to tame the winds or give into them, but bend with them.” ~ Osgrid Greyblown, Vitki Sage of the Frostheim

Vitki

Archetype – Healer

Armor – Light

Weapon – Stave, Ritual Dagger

Mechanic – Shifting Winds

• You stand abreast the Norscan mountains as the winds of Chaos swirl south. In a skilled show of balance you do not let the powers of Chaos overcome you, yet channel the winds to power your insights. Do you resist the powers of Chaos and channel the winds for the good of your allies, or do you succumb to darkness and use the winds of Chaos to unleash destruction?

Mastery Trees

• Ancestors – A focus on breathing life into the world
• Dark Gods – A focus on being an instrument of death.
• Heroes – A balance between the winds to either help or harm.

Huscarl ~ Norse Tank

“Not a whisper lads! In the fog all you’ve got to alert you are your ears – listen for the quiet splash of a hundred oars cutting through the water. When the prow breaks through the fog and slams into the sand you steady your arm and wait until you see the big brute with a shield – that’s the raider’s leader. You take him out and the rest are a savage horde. Huscarls they’re called, princes unto their own, they’re what bind the savage Norse tribes together. Aim true and take him down lads!” ~ Germund Osfrid, Sergeant of the Nordland Guard

Huscarl

Archetype – Tank

Armor – Heavy

Weapon – Sword and Shield; Greatsword

Mechanic – Norscan War Cries

• You charge forth into battle yelling with all your might to rally your allies. You issue forth War Cries strengthening your allies. You may have two War Cries active at any time.

Mastery Trees

• Drake – You channel the power of the dreaded frost drakes of Norsca going on the offensive
• Jotun – You channel the power of the mighty jotun bracing for the heaviest of blows
• Kraken – You channel the power of the monstrous kraken, thriving in the wildest of tempests

The Norse Are Coming! ~ Clans

For years the great war in the Age of Reckoning has been waged as the forces of Destruction tirelessly crash upon the defenders of Order. Driven by greed, the Norse warriors found themselves caught between the two factions as they fought for their ideologies. Much as the tides ebb and flow, the Norse support sways from faction to faction leaning towards the larger purse. So long as there are warriors to fight, the struggle between the forces of Order and Destruction wages on. The Norse have joined the struggle, but their loyalties are ever fluctuating…

The Norse Are Coming!

v1.9.1b

In what had once been a one-way tide flowing south towards the shores of the Empire, the Sea of Claws turned into a battleground as vessels of various types clashed and collided. The sea became choked with flotsam and jetsam – listing raider hulls, a broken mast, a tattered sail, a barrel of salted fish, a bloated corpse. The Norse, who dearly held the tradition of raiding and pillaging close to heart, allowed themselves to be swayed by a bit of gold – they were going to fight and raid anyway, so why not get paid to do so? As Norseman killed Norseman, dwarf, and orc alike, chaos reigned in the Sea of Claws. The scope of the war of the Age of Reckoning has now turned to engulf the peoples of Norsca. Will the forces of Norsca sway the tide of battle or will they act as a force for balance?