Great Weapons Fighter: Smash and Grab!

Neverwinter Beta Report 3

On the third day of testing Neverwinter, I picked up the first character I made and leveled him.  The Great Weapons Fighter.  Enter Mugwort Bladebiter, Half-orc Warrior.  Wort or Mugs (your choice) is an old established character of mine going back to the nineties, and as such is my default brute warrior dps type when I start a new game.  Armed with Scale Mail and a Greatsword, the Great Weapons Fighter is all about the DPS race.  Kill it before it kills you.  No defenses to speak of until you get your healer companion, until then it's kill fast and keep your potion box stocked.  Ironically, the weakest of the three classes I've looked at so far, it's been the one I've enjoyed the most to date.  Something therapeutic about taking a massive greatsword and holding the right click button watching your power meter go up, and then releasing and watching the small mobs flop over.  Of course it does little to the larger mobs, but meh.  That's what encounter powers are for, am I right?  

The Great Weapons Fighter is all about brute force. They do get an ability around level 8 or so that allows them to heal themselves back from the damage they deal, which is very handy.  They also have an encounter power that knocks foes back, and slows them. Again, handy.  The key to the GWF is to hit 3 or more mobs at once, to get the damage buff to their cleave like abilities.  As with any other two handed weapon fighter in any mmo I've played, the attacks are slower and feel a bit clunky at times.  The biggest challenge I've found is in moving out of the way of attacks by the bigger mobs and casters.  It appears that my movement speed is much lower than my less armored characters.  Those of you who know me, may guess that this is part of why I like this class so much.  It's difficult for me to master.  If it was overpowered, like my rogue was day one, I would lose interest pretty quick.  

The side quests early on for the Warrior, the Half-orc, and the Dungeoneering Skill were rather amusing.  Especially the one where the half-orc lady is complaining about being treated like an orc spy and the guardsman trying to explain to you, a hero of Neverwinter, why your race is being targeted for racism.  "Umm no, Mis-ss-ster B-b-b-bladebiter sir, of course not you.... but.... ummm .... other half-orc scum... I mean.... Please don't kill me..." (Conversation is mine in this case, not in the story, but it summarizes the conversation pretty well to me).

In the first dungeon, Cloak Tower, I found the GWF strong and flexible. It functioned as an off tank on adds and small mobs easily, with my cleric companion maintaining most of my healing needs.  Though the cleric in the group did toss some healing love my way in boss fights, on trash my companion did more than adequately.

From what I have heard in zone chat (what passes for Trade or Fleet or Whatever ya wanna call it), the Rogue kicks tail until about 30 and the GWF is weak until then. After that, the two change places.  My rogue is 20 and my GWF is 17 so thus far, I can't say.  

Wort and his Kelemvor Acolyte (Companion available from Zen Market)

As this shot has a nice close view of the UI, I'll give you a quick run down.  The left button, Tab, is for your "Unstoppable" class ability, which is essentially beserker rage. You grow big and red, and it's very cool. Doesn't last long but it's fun.  The big 1 is your daily, think whirlwind.  The two unmarked yellow ones are class abilities that are passive, they build a buff to the character during combat so he isn't totally defenseless.  The Q is your knock back encounter. E is your leap into the fray encounter.  R is your self heal encounter.  The two green guys are left and right mouse. Left is your single target base attack.  The right is your channeled wind up and let fly ability.  You may see a small symbol above the elf's head that is the rage meter for Unstoppable. When that is full, the tab button lights up.

The big hexagon in the middle is your Action Points. This is on all characters, and fuels your daily power. It's not available until all of that hex is filled.  This is the stock UI, how it looks for each character. Dailies at the top, special feature ability, Encounters, At Wills.  You get your first free companion at level 15 or so, unless you sign up for one of the Founder Packs or buy one from the Zen Market.  The founder's packs expire May 30, 2013.  The middle one seems like a pretty sweet deal, though if I had the money I would get the top end one. It gives 3 extra character slots, and the Drow as a playable race.