Beginners Guide - Part 1

Level 10 arrived much quicker than I thought it would. Going through those initial areas was very quick, and leveling is a breeze!

I thought I'd use this post to discuss some of the skills that a captain learns in those first few levels, and how I've used them in the game.

First off, a quick look at how the captain works. The Captain is a buffing, healing and tanking class, although the later is not the most efficient use of this yes. Yes, Captains can tank, but they don't do a great job.

To the skills!

Lets start with our basic attacks:

Defensive Strike: You attack defensively. On a successful strike you cause light damage, but recover quickly to protect yourself from returned attacks.

This attack has the shortest cooldown, but does very little damage.

Cutting Attack: A light, bleeding attack, which causes your foe damage over time.

Cutting Attack is a DOT (Damage Over Time) attack. This means that after you hit your target, they take the initial damage from the strike, and then continue to take damage for a certain amount of time.

Devastating Blow: If you land a Critical Hit, this attack will deal devastating bonus damage and allow the usage of enemy defeat skills, as well as allowing you to enter into the Battle-hardened state. You must be in a Battle-readied State to use this skill.

This attack deals a great deal of damage, but you must be in a Battle-Readied state to use it.

Lets take a few minutes and look at our shout/cry skills:

Battle Shout: Your fearsome Shout strikes terror into the hearts of your enemies and puts you into a Battle-readied State.

This skill is great as an opener when fighting mobs for those first 10 levels. It does a small amount of damage, and can be used at range, so it's great to pull the mobs. This will change later as you learn new skills. The Battle-Readied state is, however, the important part of that skill. It opens up a few attacks that you gain in the next few levels (Devastating Blow at level 2 and Pressing Attack at level 10).

War-Cry: When an enemy is defeated, you let out a Cry which rallies your nearby fellows to attack with greater speed and determination.

This skill can only be used after an enemy has been defeated, and is basically a self-buff. You improves your combat ability for 1 minute after using this skill.

Routing Cry: When an enemy is defeated, you let out a fearsome Cry which slightly demoralizes all other foes nearby.

This skill also can only be used after an enemy has been defeated. It is a de-buff on any enemies within 7m.

Now on to our marks:

Telling Mark: You leave a Mark on your enemy that increases the amount of damage that you and your companions will deal to it. You may only mark one target at a time.

One you get Telling Mark, use it as your opening skill. It increases the damage that the enemy will take from any source. It has a great range, so it's good to start with, before moving on to Battle Shout.

As you level, you want to make sure that you open with your Battle Shout until you get your Telling Mark, which you then move to the front of your rotation. Make sure to use

So these are the skills that you get from the first level to the 10th. I'll be making a separate post on the level 10 skills, and specifically the herald, as they warrant in depth coverage.