The Orc Choppa and Dwarf Slayer in a romantic pose

Over the past six months shock, terror, frustration, calamity, diligence, pride, joy and many other emotions shook the Warhammer Online community and the development staff at Mythic Entertainment. The first year is always the hardest for any newly-launched MMOG but that’s not stopping the aggressive development on Warhammer: Age of Reckoning. The team drilled-down all the difficult challenges, exposed the nitty-gritty, grasped onto player feedback, and hammered out some much needed improvements. With everything under better control the first "live expansion", Call to Arms, is now set in stone.

Call to Arms will change the Warhammer landscape through a variety of in-game events held through Late February and end in June. The live expansion won’t cost you a dime and inside the package due to unravel in the coming months is a mother-load of exciting content.

Call to Arms Live Expansion Schedule:

• ‘Call to Arms: Bitter Rivals' Live Event (March): Successful completion allows head start access to the new Orc Choppa and Dwarf Slayer careers. The event will also include the new Chaos-themed RvR Scenario, Twisting Tower.

• Two New Careers Join WAR (March): The Orc Choppa and Dwarf Slayer answer the Call to Arms.

• ‘Call to Arms: Beyond the Sands’ Live Event (April): Details to be revealed soon!

• ‘Call to Arms: Rise of the Tomb Kings’ Live Event (May): The race between Order and Destruction players begins to unlock the Land of the Dead for their Realm.

• ‘Land of the Dead’ Opens (June): The deserts of Nehekhara open to players with the addition of a new RvR-gated dungeon zone. To gain access to the Land of the Dead, opposing Realms must battle for control of the zone to access dozens of new Public Quests, instanced lairs, and a massive new Tomb Kings dungeon to plunder in search of the Casket of Souls.

More details on these and other new features soon to invade the Age of Reckoning will be revealed as the launch of Call to Arms grows near.

Two brand-spanking new careers: Orc Choppa and Dwarf Slayer!
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Jeff Hickman, executive producer of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning touches upon both careers in the official live expansion announcement:

“The Orc Choppa and Dwarf Slayer are two of the most iconic characters in the Warhammer universe, and I have no doubt WAR fans will go berserk for them. Choppas represent the pure anarchy that the Greenskins embody, and the crazed, mohawk-sporting Slayers are their ideal archenemy. It won’t be long before you see both of them adding a new level of insanity to the Age of Reckoning!”

Bitter rivals, the Orc Choppa and Dwarf Slayer are ornery and savage and hell-bent on bashing-brains. As for how they play in the game both careers function as melee DPS and are designed to work off rage or berserker fury. Lightly armored, both dish out heaps of damage while rage or fury builds during battles. At certain intervals special abilities will unlock and expand their deadly arsenals. Player choice plays a huge factor on survivability. If all the berserker fury is blown for massive damage it weakens their overall defense. It’s a balancing act. Both careers are similar and mirror each other in how they function.

Everything on the schedule looks fantastic and the festivities are kicking off in about a month. I'll be there reporting from the front lines, and if you didn’t return to the game after the “miracle” 1.1a Patch this is an opportune time to start making preparation to heed the Call to Arms. Games on Net has the full 10GB+ game client available for download today.