Before I say anything, let’s get a little disclaimer out of the way first. The Blackguard is, as of this writing, in its first iteration on the Public Test Server. My opinions expressed here are merely my first impressions of the class. Balance is still in flux so let’s keep that in mind!

Phew, now that’s out of the way. Let’s get into the Blackguard!

First, what the heck is a Blackguard? The Blackguard are kind of like the Praetorian Guard for the Dark Elves. They serve as the elite guard for The Witch King, Malekith. The Blackguard are incredibly well versed in the arts of war, indeed they are trained for it from infancy. Malekith adopted a survival of the fittest mantra with regards to Blackguard training; aspirants regularly murder each other and essentially thin the herd.

The Blackguard trainees are split into multiple Towers that compete with each other for the favor of Lord Malekith. It is a kind of perverse version of the Houses in Hogwarts. Except one where the houses murder each other to show who is best, instead of using the manly sport of Quidditch, or something. Those that remain become elite Blackguards of Malekith and enforce his will across the lands.

In Warhammer Online, Blackguards are Dark Elf tanks, and their mechanic is called Hatred. The Hatred mechanic is a pretty good representation of the seething hatred for all that each and every Blackguard holds. As a Blackguard assails his foes he builds his hatred for them, frustrated apparently by the fact they just won’t die. He also builds hatred from being struck in combat. Hatred is then spent on powerful attacks, and some of his other attacks perform differently depending on the amount of hatred built.

The Blackguard is the mirror of the Ironbreaker, but their mechanics differ somewhat. The Ironbreaker does build Grudge while being attacked, but he does not build it from attacking, instead he has an Oath Friend ability that can be cast on an ally, and receives additional Grudge as they endure harm. The contrast in mechanics paints the Blackguard as a more offensive tank, and that he is.

All of Warhammer Online’s tank classes possess similar focus in their mastery paths, typically, one for offense, one for defense, and one of miscellaneous buffs or debuffs. The Blackguard is unique in that it has an entire line devoted to Anti Magic attacks and tactics. It is also noteworthy that it is the only tank class in the game to possess “Mortal Strike” capability, or the ability to debuff the output of healers through an attack.

The Blackguard is currently in an invite only phase of testing on the Public Test Server, I received an invite last night, oddly enough, in my Junk mail folder. Luckily, I didn’t empty it before I realized! I’ve been looking forward to playing the Blackguard for some time..

I play Order classes mainly, mostly because no other Destruction class has ever appealed to me. I tried many during the course of my year or so in Beta, but Order always held the greater appeal. Unfortunately, the Blackguard never made his debut during the beta process, left only to be teased in concept art and information on the road to launch. I was sold on his look, particularly his iconic choice of weaponry: the Halberd. Swords and axes are so passé, I much prefer pole arms. Of course, it broke my heart when Mythic announced the class would be cut, I hoped it would reappear down the line. Gladly it has.

Let me tell you, this class does not disappoint. I’ve only played the class in Tier 1 thus far, but we will be allowed to play the two new classes with high level templates over the coming days. I did manage to get a good taste for the class though, as it matures very early. It also possesses very strong mastery abilities, which I was able to take a good look at and compare with its mirror the Ironbreaker, and other tank classes.

I’m not going to get into the specific numbers on the abilities as balance is in flux and they are likely to change, but I will touch on the dynamic of the combat. Combat is fluid and the pace at which hate is built is pretty good, almost too good.

You basically spend action points to build your hate, and then expend your hate on powerful attacks (which only cost Hate.) This gives you two sources from which to draw your attacks and thus creates a faster pace of combat that I find incredibly enjoyable. Most other classes will burn their action points from 100% to 0% and then combat becomes a bit sluggish and slows down considerably. The Blackguard also possesses an action point restoration ability that consumes Hatred so you can cycle through your attacks effortlessly. I have a good feeling this will be adjusted as it feels too good to remain as it is.

Visually, the Blackguard is stunning. Your level 1 armor is very similar to the Swordmaster “dress” only in grey, but it quickly improves once you receive your first Tier 1 body piece. The Halberd I acquired was impressive, but what I found most thrilling of all were the combat animations. We’ve seen all the sword, axe, hammer, etc animations so far, but the halberd animations are unique and very pleasing to watch. The class just exudes badass.

I do have one disappointment though – and it is fairly vain. Where are the brass eyes Mythic?! I really love the glowing brass eyes on the Disciple and I was really looking forward to being able to achieve that look on my Blackguard. I did get some pretty neat glowing purplish eyes, though.

In the end, the class has left a very good impression on me but I fear it is living in the shadow of a nerf bat. Now, I use that only as an expression. The class is in testing and as such nothing is really a ‘nerf’ but it is almost inconceivable it will go live as good as it is now. I am confident it will be a formidable tank in any case, unless Mythic takes a heavy handed approach on its adjustments of the class. The types of abilities available, whether adjusted in potency or not make for a good mix of crowd control, damage, and utility that I feel are very unlikely to be marred by being a bit toned down.