Warrior
The quintessential fighting class, Warriors focus on arms and combat. Due to this specialization, Warriors can learn a variety of weapon skills and wear heavier armors more easily than any other class.
Less skilled in maneuvering and manipulating tools than Rogues, Warriors prefer to rely on strength, steel and the persuasive power of the edge of a blade. Devoting the majority of their lives to physical combat, Warriors find great difficulty in learning spells and operating certain types of magical devices.
Professional Highlights
Warriors have access to a wide selection of Combat Maneuvers and Shield Specializations, both active and passive, that no other profession has available, notably Weapon Bonding, as well as Armor Specializations for additional support. Elite warriors of 15th level or higher may join the Warrior Guild, where they can master abilities like Berserk (which is alternatively available as a combat maneuver, but is more effective when mastered as a guild skill).
Due to physically oriented training plans that most possess, Warriors are the most likely profession to achieve damage reduction, or Redux. This, in tandem with their ease in equipping heavy armors, allows them to take much more punishment than the other professions in the game.
While Warriors find it very difficult to learn magic, they can easily train in multiple weapon types to take advantage of the Martial Mastery passive ability. Being trained in multiple weapons also allows them to choose the ideal weapon for each situation, whether it be defensive loadouts with shields, heavy-hitting polearms, or the fearsome claidhmore.
Warriors who are trained in armor use and specific weapon types can ASSESS those armaments to determine the exact amount of weighting/padding/sighting.
Combat Maneuvers List
Warriors have the ability to train in the following combat maneuvers:
Warrior Exclusive Maneuvers
- Block Mastery
- Mighty Blow
- Sunder Shield
- Weapon Bonding
- Berserk (Available through Guild)
- Tackle (Available through Guild)
Other Options
- Armor Spike Focus
- Bearhug
- Bull Rush
- Charge
- Combat Focus
- Combat Mastery (Achievable through the Guild)
- Combat Mobility
- Combat Movement
- Combat Toughness
- Coup de Grace
- Crowd Press
- Cunning Defense
- Dirtkick
- Disarm Weapon (Achievable through the Guild)
- Dislodge
- Evade Mastery
- Feint (Achievable through the Guild)
- Grapple Mastery
- Hamstring
- Headbutt
- Kick Mastery
- Kroderine Soul
- Multi-Fire
- Precision
- Punch Mastery
- Quickstrike
- Shield Bash
- Shield Charge
- Side by Side
- Specialization
- Spell Cleaving
- Spell Parry
- Spin Attack (Achievable through the Guild)
- Stun Maneuvers
- Subdual Strike
- Surge of Strength
- Tainted Bond
- Trip
- True Strike
- Unarmed Specialist
Martial Stances
- Disarming Presence
- Executioner's Stance
- Griffin's Voice
- Shield Riposte
- Stance of the Mongoose
- Striking Asp Stance
- Tortoise Stance
- Whirling Dervish
Armor Specialization
Warriors have the most choices for Armor Specializations, and are the only class that can add Damage Resistance to armor through their specializations. The three Damage Specializations require specialized armor fittings from the Warrior Guild. All of the following Armor Specializations are Warrior exclusive:
- Crush Protection
- Slash Protection
- Puncture Protection
- Armor Support
- Armor Reinforcement
- Light Armor Mastery
Shield Specializations
Warriors have the following list of Shield Specializations available.
- Adamantine Bulwark
- Block the Elements
- Deflect the Elements
- Deflection Training
- Deflection Mastery
- Disarming Presence
- Guard Mastery
- Phalanx
- Prop Up
- Protective Wall
- Shield Bash
- Shielded Brawler
- Shield Charge
- Shield Focus (small)
- Shield Focus (medium)
- Shield Focus (large)
- Shield Focus (tower)
- Shield Forward
- Shield Mind
- Shield Pin
- Shield Push
- Shield Riposte
- Shield Spike Focus
- Shield Spike Mastery
- Shield Strike
- Shield Strike Mastery
- Shield Swiftness
- Shield Trample
- Shield Trample Mastery
- Spell Block
- Steady Shield
- Steely Resolve
- Tortoise Stance
Guild Skills
Additionally, the Warrior Guild allows training in six skills. They are:
War Cries and Batter Barriers are entirely unique to the guild, as are many of the less-mechanically-useful skills learned in Warrior Tricks. Choosing to train a guild skill is a tradeoff, as mastering a guild skill takes a significant time investment, and the warrior must remain active in the guild to use it. Once mastered, though, a master is more proficient than a character with all 5 ranks from the Combat Maneuver List would be, and has not used any Combat Maneuver Points.
Guard and Protect
Warriors have access to the unique combat verbs: GUARD and PROTECT. These skills can be used to help defend another player or a non-player character. In either case, the warrior takes a position to defend the charge from an incoming attack, looking to either guard with a shield or protect with a parried weapon. A warrior must choose to either guard or protect only a single target, and each target may only have one guard and one protector.
GUARD uses the block system (shields) and PROTECT the parry system (weapons). In each case, the warrior has a chance to stop the incoming attack with 50% his or her normal ability. When guarding or protecting, the warrior suffers a 25% penalty to his or her own ability to block or parry incoming attacks. Guarding and protecting have no effect on DS for the warrior or the defended target.[1]
It is worth noting that if two warriors with approximately the same defensive skills guard and/or protect each other, they each receive a net increase in their defensive ability.
Training in Guard Mastery, a Shield Specialization, can increase the chances a warrior has to block for their charge and remove the penalty to their own defenses. There is no equivalent skill to improve PROTECT.
GUARD (verb)
Help guard:
Usage:
GUARD {target} - Use your blocking skill to attempt to block attacks made against another.
PROTECT (verb)
Help protect:
Usage:
PROTECT {target} - Use your parrying skill to attempt to parry attacks made against another.
Both verbs give the following message when used by a non-warrior:
Guard/Protect person:
You mill about, but really don't have a clue what to do. Person mills about with an uncertain look on her face.
Both abilities can be ended using the STOP verb (e.g. STOP GUARD).
Warrior Statistic Growth Rates
For more information see the page on statistic growth rates.
| Profession | Strength | Constitution | Dexterity | Agility | Discipline | Aura | Logic | Intuition | Wisdom | Influence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warrior | 30 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 20 | 15 | 20 |
Note: The table above is the baseline statistic growth rates. These values are actually modified for every race in GemStone IV, including humans.
References
Resources
Officials Folders
Guides
- A beginner's guide to playing a warrior (work-in-progress)
| Warrior Profession - edit | |
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| Spell Circles: | |
| Professional Highlights: | |
| Popular Archetypes: |
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| Profession - edit |
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| Squares: Rogue | Warrior | Monk |
| Semis: Bard | Paladin | Ranger |
| Pures: Cleric | Empath | Sorcerer | Wizard |