Classes/Warlord

Ahh, the Warlord. One of Lineage 2's truly Area of Effect classes. I say this because, they are built for such playstyle. Every offensive skill they have is made for multiple enemies, from their Thunderstorm, to their Howl. All are made to attack multiple enemies at the same time. And truly one of the most cost effective characters in the game as well.

I began playing a Warlord in the near beginnings of Lineage 2(Late c2). I like the play style, and the kind of partying that had to be made which utilized many different other classes. Also the cost effectiveness of the character. For every 'swing' I take, I hit all the mobs in a 160 degree radius. Hence the Area of Effect feature of the character. This is accomplished by using a pole arm, the only weapon capable of acheiving this feat without the use of special skills.

For pvp, it takes great skill to 'survive' in pvp. In 1v1 matches the Warlord and can utilize his many survival skills in an attempt to beat his opponent. But his true power lies in Mass PVP. Stunning large numbers of players, attacking mass numbers of players at the same time. They have large amounts of Combat Points(CP) and high Health Points(HP). All which add up to make this character very formidable in battle.

Class Specifics

The Warlord is one of the second class changes you can choose for Human Warriors. This class is designed for area of effect playing. They specialize in the weapon called the pole arm, which allows them to attack multiple enemies at the same time with just a normal physical attack, or 'swing'. They must always have a party, of which 1-2 healers must be present. This class cannot not solo without great difficulty(trust me i know, GREATLY). They achieve this AOE ability by pulling large numbers of monsters into one area and begin attacking. This is very cost effective due to with one attack you are killing many monsters at the same time. Where as with most players, it's just one monster at a time.

Masteries

The Warlord is a master of both Light and Heavy armor. This class in all it's intended purposes is a damage dealer. But in the case of EXP, it can act as the 'tank' of the party, or main damage taker. With thier HP Boosts and HP Regeneration passive skills, this allows them to 'tank' AOE parties. As stated they are the master of the pole arm, thier passives help them increase thier power with the pole arm.

Skills

Passive Skills

Heavy/Light armor masteries- Increase P. Def when Wearing Heavy/light armor.

Fast HP recovery- increase HP Recovery.

Boost HP- Increase max HP.

Final Frenzy- increase P. Atk as HP level falls.

Active Skills

Thunderstorm(lvl 40)- Deals damage to surrounding enemies and has a chance to throw them into a state of shock.

Whirlwind(lvl 40)- Deals large amounts of damage to surrounding enemies.

Shock Stomp(lvl 55)- Same as Thunderstorm, but with better chance for stun(no damage incurred to enemy) and causes enemy to lose target status.

Wrath(lvl 66)-Decrease the enemies CP by a certain percentage when swinging the pole arm.

Provoke(lvl 43)- Draws in enemies from large surrounding area.

Battle Roar(lvl 24)- Increases Max HP and restore a certain amount of HP. This is actually a Pre-2nd class change skill. Human warriors learn it early in their 20's. I chose to mention it because, unlike the Gladiator(the other 2nd class of Warrior), the warlord continues to advace skills in it.

Thrill Fight- Increase Atk. Speed and reduces Run Speed.

Revival(lvl - Completely restores your HP.

Focus Attack- Allows to target one enemy only(Skills are still AOE) and increase accuracy and Critical attack power.

Lionheart- Temporarily but significantly increases resistance to Paralysis, Hold, Sleep, Shock or debuff attacks.

Fell Swoop(lvl 55)- Increase max number of enemies you can hit.

Howl- Reduces the P. Atk of surrounding enemies.

The 2nd class chages for the Human Warrior classes(Gladiator/Warlord) have specialized skills that increase P. Atk against specified monsters. They're called detect weakness skills. They are as follows.

Detect Weakeness Animal

Detect Weakeness Beast

Detect Weakeness Dragon

Detect Weakeness Plant

Detect Weakness Insect

Toggle Skills (Continuously uses MP)

Vicious Stance- Increase critical attack power.

Accuracy- Increases accuracy

Pole Arm Accuracy- Increase accuracy with a pole arm(pole arm must be equiped.

War Frenzy- Increase resistance to Sleep/Stun attacks.

Leveling a Warlord

40-52: With the way Lineage has moved, it used to be you could utilize the pre-40 sword/blunt masteries and get a buffer and xp one mob at a time. Now, with just about everyone and thier dog having a 'buffbot' and the recent update of being able to get 'newbie' buffs until 61, you can AOE solo at least up until 48/49 with heal pots, but healer is suggested to be in party.

53-61: Leveling in 'b-grade' is pretty much the same as the previous grade, but with a Healer and BD. With a healer, and possibly a bd, you can duo or trio up until 61. With the new limitations NC Soft has made, it will be slow, but still faster than doing one mob at a time.

62-78+: Respectively, as you progress in lvls, the harder it will be to lvl with the same party time after time. Additional polers, active buffers, healers, BD/SWS(if you can find one), substitute polers(just someone swingin' a pole) will help with the progression. Also, full parties are sometimes very hard to make, unless you have faithfull players who will always join when you try to set one up. And, if you aren't the one setting it up, you must be the one willing to join, because a good party may come once in a blue moon.

Tattooes

The question in tattooes relies on whether or not you are going to be the 'tank' or damage dealer in a pole party. Early in a Warlords life as a tank, tattooes are not neccessary, but if you wish, a +DEX tattoo from CON will suffice, but go no more than a +3 as HP is not yet high enough to take the drop. After about lvl 55 you can safely do a +4 DEX and still tank sufficiently. As the DD you can do +4 STR and +4 DEX for a -8CON.