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"So.. Ye wish ta be a Thane aye? whell, t'aint as easy as it looks! 'eres a few things ye might likes ta know afore ye commit yerself ta Thor!" What is a Thane? "Worshippers of Thor, the Norse god of thunder, lightning, and weather, Thanes are a fighting class that is also given some ability to cast offensive spells." -darkageofcamelot.com Thanes are known as "hybrids", a combination of melee and caster. These skills individually are not as strong as a "true" Fighter or Magic-User. Their strength lies is using these combined abilities in battle. Stats:
Level Abilities:
Specializations: (X2 per level)
What is Stormcalling?
Thor's Minor bolt -Thor's Full Lightning: direct damage spell with a
3 second casting time (4 -151 dmg) 1,3,6,9,13,17,23,29,38,48 Toothgrinders
Hoof - Toothgnashers Ram: direct damage spell, instant (15
Important note: currently the level 50 spell, Thor's Potence, offers
the same benefit as the level 41 strength buff and at a higher power cost
- for that reason it is not advisable to raise stormcall to 50
What race should I be?
-----STR CON DEX QUI PIE
These races all make good thanes. I recommend choosing the race that you'll enjoy playing as your first criteria. If you have no race preference, certain races do work slightly better in certain "templates" Note: vertically challenged races (dwarf) tend to have some issues casting over ramparts in keep defense so I recommend the large model, but also remember, small races also make small targets on the battlefield. What exactly is a "template"?
Where should I put my starting points?
How should I Specialize my thane?
Shield Thane:
This is the arguably most common thane template out there. The reasons for this are, 46 stormcalling is the level of the highest damage add spell, 42 shield gives you good blocking ability and a 9 second stun style called "slam" which is very useful in melee situations. With this template, you will be able to play a defensive style, protecting casters and healers, but still be able to be strong offensively, stunning your enemies and then switching to a 2 handed weapon to do nice damage. Overall a well-rounded template, good if you plan to solo as well as group. (a lesser used variant of this is to go 29 shield, then the remaining points in parry) 2 Hand (or Offensive) Thane:
This template is also common, designed to do high damage as quickly as possible. 50 Weapon gives you the highest style available and more melee damage, while 48 Stormcalling gives you the best direct damage spell in the sc line. You do give up shield utility, but 30 parry will give you decent protection. Nice for the player that prefers to rush into battle and ask questions later. This is a nice template for grouping, especially if you have skald for speed and a warrior who can guard you. Melee Thane:
This is a newer template, giving the advantage of 42 shield and 50 Weapon, but trading off the several levels of damage from the sc line. Good for the player who likes to go toe to toe, not sit back and cast spells, played very much like a straight warrior, but using instant spells during melee. Good combination of defense and close combat offense. There's a few others templates out there, (there are two other templates based on 48 SC, with either 42 in shield and 41 in weapon, or 50 weapon with remaining points split between shield/parry), but this is a good cross section.. I will link a good info site for those wishing to experiment with creating a different template. *Tip: It is generally best to raise stormcalling up so it is 1 below level, weapon 1 or 2 below level, and remaining in shield or parry as you move up in experience. Hammer, Axe, or Sword?
Hammers do crush damage
This will be more important as you start competing in RvR, Albion plate mail is vulnerable to crush, Hibernian scale is vulnerable to slash. I will link the weapon damage vs. the type of armor at the bottom as well, so you can compare the other armor types for yourself. *Tip: As you do level, try to use yellow or orange con gear/weapons
(if you can afford them) this will greatly improve your survivability (avoid
using red/purple, as it will degrade very
How does parry work?
Shields, and why we use them.
Thanes can use medium shields, this allows you to block up to two attacks or opponents at a time (small shields block only 1, while large can handle 3). Shield ability gives you a base chance of 5% to block melee attacks and a 30% chance to block arrows, (modified by your level vs. the attackers level, and shield quality), each point you put into this ability adds an additional .5% chance to block. As you go up in skill, you receive shield styles that come in very handy in disabling your opponents, the most used one being granted at 42 spec. This style (Slam) can be used from any position (front, side or rear) of an enemy, and when landed, will stun an enemy for 9 seconds, allowing you to attack unchallenged, generally you can get about 2 swings in before the stun wears off, very useful in pve and rvr. Additionally you receive other skills as your thane goes up in level, I will go into each one and at what level they're granted, knowing how these work and when to use them will greatly improve how you play and how effective you can be. These skills show up in your specialization sheet, you'll need to make a hotbar key to use. Guard: This is granted as soon as you can spec shield (I believe) at (5). This skill allows you to block attacks against another member of your group. You must be near the person you are guarding for this skill to work and you can only be guarded by one person . This is normally used on the main damage dealer (tank) to give him added protection against mobs. This is a great skill, and used right, can give all melee in a group great protection (if you have a thane and warrior in group, warrior guards thane, thane guards warrior, for twice the protection) if you have a large number of melee, create a "guard circle" where melee A guards melee B, B guards melee C, and C guards melee A. (note: berserkers truly enjoy it when you are guarding them) Protect: Thanes get level 1(10) replaced by level 2 (20), not shield based, but another useful skill as it will "distract" a mob from the person you are protecting, best used to protect your healers or damage dealing casters. Protect works by keeping aggression (aggro) away from whoever your protecting. Large heals or high damage spells to a monster will draw aggro away from your tanks and onto your healer/caster, use this skill to keep your healer safe and sound. *Tip: when you first join a group, decide who you will guard and protect, then state it; "/g I've got [zerker name] on guard and [healer name] on protect" It not only reminds the other shield users to put up their guard/protects on the others in your party, it also lets your healer know that you're watching out for them. Engage: this is a shield skill granted at spec level 7. When activated against an enemy, it puts you in a defensive stance, you will not be able to attack, but increases your chance to block up to 85%. The enemy cant have been in melee combat recently, and it will lower your endurance slightly with each shot you block, but very useful vs. archer and archer mobs. This is useful in pve, if your group pulls 2 mobs at once, you can engage one, allowing your group to kill off the other while you keep that one occupied. This skill really shines in rvr, if an archer has you targeted and shoots, use "/face" (turning you to face the enemy archer) then engage, then sprint towards him, allowing you to close to melee range with little or no damage. You'll notice all templates have at least 7 in shield just for this purpose. Intercept: You get this skill at (15) This is also a non-shield related skill. What Intercept allows you to do is to take the full damage of a single shot directed at the player your intercepting for. Basically throwing yourself in front of the attack. This skill is on a one minute timer, but it is instant. If used right, it might save a party member who is near death, while he is waiting for the healer to get to him, or if the monster is near death. Thanes hit points are fairly low, so use this one with caution... What Realm abilities should I get?
Purge - this is a great RA that lets you cure all negative spell effects, including mez, debuffs, disease, and even rez sickness for 10 points, many thanes choose either IP or Purge as their first RA. Passive RA's;
Avoidance of Magic is nice to increase those resistances, a defense against all those casters out there Augment Con 1 and Aug Toughness 1 are both nice, for 2 points it will give you a very nice hit point boost Longwind 1 and Tireless 1 are great for an increased length sprint, also very nice with the new shaman end regen, as it gives you almost a permanent sprint ability. Most thanes avoid the other active RA's because of the timers, and limited
usability, but the Rain of XXX line of spells are not bad, as it will stack
on top of your damage add (but not cumulative, only 1 rain will work at
a
At this time, I do not recommend the thane unique RA, Static Tempest.
Many thanes have tried it, and all that I know have respecced out of it
as soon as they could, due to its ineffectiveness
Thane Combat Tips:
Secondly, experiment. Sometimes a good hotbar setup will save you, having your spells/abilities organized in a way thats best for you is very important to a thane. try different setups untill you find the one that fits your playstyle best. Solo fighting in pve is fairly straight forward: find a camp of monsters with plenty of open space around them, and that is clear of lower con creatures, stand at max range and cast single target full lightning to "pull", then cast aoe hammer as the target clears away from any other close monsters, (or if mob is archer or caster, use instant dd here as an interrupt), another hammer spell, then into melee styles. Use aoe shout if safe do do so. The main thing to remember is to watch your power, anything below 50% in power or health takes a lot longer to regenerate, increasing down time. Be careful to watch for added monsters, and don't be afraid to sprint away if it looks like your below 50% health, and the mob is 75% or more. Group combat (pve) is more complicated, use protect and guard (if you
have
RvR: You, as a thane, do not hit as hard offensively as many, and combined with the "mez breaker" misnomer, some groups would rather choose members other than a thane. Depending on how well you've played at lower levels and how many friends you've made, will determine how easy or hard you will get a group in rvr. By being a smart player, you will be useful to any rvr group, as a caster and archer killer (instant casts work great as an interrupt), a keep defender or as a healer/caster protector, you will do well. Learn to use what you have, and when to use your spells. I hear thanes are gimp. Is that true?
Player vs. Environment - pve or pvm (mob); Thanes are very good at pve, the ranged attacks, blocking ability, and instants all combined, make a thane good at killing computer creatures. You'll find you can routinely kill yellow con creatures and can level with relative ease. In groups, you work very well as a puller and a tank. The one thing to note though, learn when (and when not) to use area of effect spells (aoe) when in a group, other classes have many forms of Crowd Control (mez, root, stun) to handle multiple enemies. A hammer spell thrown at the wrong time will unmezz a bunch of mobs, and likely kill your whole party. Giving you and thanes in general a label of "mez breaker", a few of those mistakes and it will be a lot harder to get into a group, just a word of caution.. Realm vs. Relam - rvr or pvp; This is more challenging for a thane, I once heard it described as playing this game on the hard setting, and I agree. All those things that make you great in pve don't translate as well in pvp combat. In pve, you tend to stand stationary and bring the mobs to you, but in pvp its much more fluid and many times you do not have the time to stop for a 3 second cast, so you tend to rely on your instants. There are several situations where you remain stationary in pve, and thanes do pretty well in those instances, (such as keep defense). The evolution of rvr has made the thane a tough class to compete with, low hitpoints, higher enemy resists, lack of defense against casters, mez and stun spells, and no speed, all make rvr challenging. The best rvr thanes I know, work in well coordinated groups, where the skills they do have can be used to their fullest... And the word of caution about aoe spells, this goes the same with pvp, only more so!! Be very careful with those hammers, it wi ll make or break your reputation. . So, the short answer is, no we are not "gimp". That suggests we are
totally useless, which isn't the case, but we are in need of some fixes
to make us more competitive in rvr.
"Good Luck! And may Thor guide ye!" Baldaran
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