Armsman

AVAILABLE ON: Eden, Blackthorn, Live

The heaviest of the realms’ primary tanks. Armsmen are stout defenders of Albion, wearing heavy plate armour that shrugs off all but the mightiest blows, all in service of their comrades and the preservation of king Arthur’s legacy.

Armsmen are the pillars of group play. Though capable of dealing respectable damage, they are most often called upon to act as the shield upon which invaders break. Thus, your primary duties will be to halt the enemy advance and to keep your group mates safe. To this end, you will primarily be making use of combat styles which debilitate the enemy, be it stuns, snares or interrupts, as well as using mechanics unique to the Shield skill line.

All tanks, both heavy and light, receive access to Intercept. This is a skill that can be applied to a friendly target, causing the next melee attack intended for that same friendly target to be absorbed by you.

Any class with access to the Shield skill line, who has also invested between 5 and 15 skill points in said skill line, will gain access to Guard. Guard is, like Intercept, a skill you apply to a friendly target which, as long as you remain within melee attacking distance of the friendly target, allows you to block incoming melee attacks on behalf of your guarded target. Unlike Intercept, Guard does not have a cooldown and should be swapped as needed. Players from WARHAMMER Online: Age of Reckoning will be familiar with this mechanic.

Both of these abilities will allow your healers and spell-casters to avoid

interruption of their spells.

PvE:

If playing solo, Polearm is generally the strongest option. However, Armsmen are not the best at soloing and you will have a much better experience levelling in groups.

For group play, specializing in Shields will great increase your ability to control enemies and rectify the situation, should something go awry.

It is also possible to do an okay job tanking while using a Polearm, however it will be much more risky and most likely result in overall slower performance.

If there is another tank in the group, then they can put Guard on you while you act as off-tank with a Polearm, while benefiting from the other tank’s blocking ability to reduce damage to yourself.

If there is another tank in the group and you are both using Shields, then you can both apply Guard to each other, dramatically reducing the damage taken and freeing up your healer(s) to perform more offensive actions.

RvR:

If playing solo, it is important to remember that ultimately the Armsman’s greatest strength is their ability to outlast their opponent. Clever use of defensive abilities to weather the storm of more offensive minded classes is more important than trying to push out damage.

When engaged in combat, the Armsman’s first thoughts should be how to best deny the enemy any momentum. This can be accomplished by charging towards the enemy frontline and snaring or stunning enemies, so as to prevent them from reaching your own back-line. This becomes a constant game of reevaluating targets to determine which is the most dangerous, and when it is prudent to focus on offence instead.

Should the enemy forces penetrate your frontline and begin attacking your healers and spell-casters, making use of Guard and Intercept will greatly increase the survival chances of your back-line.

Character planners:

Eden: https://eden-daoc.net/charplan?c=Armsman

Blackthorn: https://blackthorn-daoc.com/class/Armsman

Live: https://daoc.gg/charplanner/overview#c=ARMSMAN

Suggested starting stat point distribution:

10 Constitution / 10 Strength / Quickness

15 Constitution or Strength / 10 Quickness

15 Quickness / 10 Constitution (Half-Ogre)

Suggested class skills:

50 Polearm, 42 Shield, 39 in a weapon of your choice, 13 Parry (standard)

44 Polearm, 44 Thrust, 42 Shield, 18 Parry (for offensive peeling)

44 Polearm, 42 Shield, 39 Sword, 20 Crossbow (for group RvR)