Title: Warhammer 40,000 Apocalypse Online Guide
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: General for 40K and SAO
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own Warhammer 40K or Sword Art Online.
Summary: This is a 'guide book' for the story 'Victory Or Death'. It will include ancillary information such as the User Manual that the Players would have received and updates on Character Lists and such.
A/N: this first 'chapter' will be the user manual the Players received and thus give a brief rundown of the different Playable Races and Specialisations.
Welcome to Warhammer 40K Apocalypse Online!
Included in this pack is everything you need to play Warhammer 40K Apocalypse Online (WAO), including a copy of the game and your very own Nerv Gear headset.
WAO is the first game to fully utilise the 'full dive' technology made capable by the Nerv Gear. You don't play WAO, you live it! What this means is that if you can do it in real life, you can do it in WAO. That and so much more, but that will be covered during the in-game tutorials.
Due to the absence of traditional interfaces, the main menu can be accessed by pinching you right hand thumb and forefinger together and drawing a vertical line in front of you. We do not recommend accessing the Menu system while in combat as this will not pause the game!
Creating Your Character
There are three initial stages to creating your character. Choosing Race, choosing Class and choosing Appearance.
Race:
There are three playable Races in WAO. The Imperium; Chaos and The Eldar. Each of these three races has unique advantages, disadvantages and philosophies. These will be explored later in this manual.
Class:
Your class represents the philosophy and fighting style of the various organisations or factions within your race. While the Class covers the broad aspects of the factions, your character will also be given a chance to 'Specialise' within your Class, in order to take advantage of the specific iconic units of these organisations and factions.
Appearance:
In this stage of character creation you get to choose the sex, appearance and name of your character. With one exception, which will be explained later, the sex and appearance of your character has no impact on game play mechanics. A small and scrawny looking character can, with proper training, be exceedingly strong while a larger looking character can be quite nimble.
Experience, Levelling, Skills and Attributes
Gaining Experience:
In the world of WAO, like in most MMO's, experience is used to gain levels and there are two ways of gaining experience. The first is the traditional way of completing quests and killing hostile NPCs. The second way is when your character performs appropriate training.
Training has two advantages. Firstly it provides a small amount of EXP, though not on the same level as questing or killing hostile NPCs. The second advantage is the increase in weapons skills and associated physical attributes. When you train with a sword, for example, you increase your proficiency with using a sword but you also increase the strength and endurance of your sword arm in the process. There is also a tapering off of exp and stat increases when working with a specific trainer as you approach or surpass their skill level.
Levelling:
While WAO does have a levelling system, it is not a traditional levelling system. There is no automatic allocation of points to attributes or skills and there is no automatic increase in Hit Points. Instead the Level system is designed to provide access to increasingly powerful weapons, armour, allied NPCs and, in some cases, Quest areas.
Skills:
Skills represent all of the weapons, armour and specialised training that can be acquired in the game. There are trainers for each Class and Specialisation that focus on the specific skills typified by that Class or Specialisation in most planets for that Race. There are a few skills that are universal across either an entire Race or all Races.
Training is the best and simplest way to obtain a new Skill, but they can also be acquired through the constant use of the skill in the field. This second method is not recommended for the acquisition of weapons skills, because until the skill is 'acquired' then your character will be almost incompetent with the weapon and my cause more damage to yourself or your allies.
Skills in WAO have a 'use it or lose it' nature, much like in real life. In order to improve your skills, you must either train or use the skill, but if a skill is not used for a significant amount of time then you begin to 'get rusty' and the skill is no longer as efficient. Once acquired, you will never lose a skill completely, but it will get to the point equivalent to a newly acquired and untrained skill. Conversely, if you focus on a single skill, or small group of skills, then your character will become an expert at those skills.
Attributes:
Attributes represent your characters body and how fit your character is. Attributes include traditional game attributes such as Strength; Agility and Endurance, but also include others such as fatigue, hunger and nutrition. Your characters Hit Points is calculated based on all of these attributes.
Just like with Skills, you need to train an attribute to increase it and if you don't train it then it will wither. Often training or utilising skills will also contribute to the increase of one or more Attribute.
Allied NPCs
One of the most important factors in WAO is Allied NPCs. Due to the massive scope of the Warhammer 40K universe and the background lore, it would be impossible for a single Player to make a significant impact by themselves, so each Player will be able to recruit, train and command Allied NPCs. The type and number of NPCs each Player will have under their direct command is determined by the Player's Race, Class and Specialisation.
Be careful how you treat your Allied NPCs as they will learn from your actions and training. Treat them well and they will follow your into hell. Treat them poorly and they could turn on you.
The Races of WAO
The Imperium
The Imperium of Man is made up of all of the worlds of Humanity, united under the faith of the God Emperor of Mankind. The Imperium is a vast and ponderous organism, where the vast majority of the populations never leave the city of their birth, let alone their homeworld, unless they are part of the vast military machine in which case they will probably never see their homeworld again.
Classes of the Imperium
Imperial Guard
The Imperial Guard comprise the bulk of the forces of the Imperium. Called 'The Hammer of the Emperor', the Imperial Guard is so large that the exact number of members can never be known or even estimated, with the number of men and women killed, inducted and mustered out in a single day often being in the millions. The Imperial Guard believe that no obstacle is to great to overcome if you throw enough men and tanks at it, and the Guard have an almost unlimited supply of both.
Infantry Commander: The Infantry Commander is for those Players who like to get up close in the action. With more variety of weapons and training options available than any other Imperial Class, The Infantry Commander specialises in leading a small, well trained and versatile squad into the teeth of battle.
Command Officer: The Command Officer is for the aspiring General. With access to more Allied NPCs that any other Imperial Class, the Command Officer will eventually have their own army to command.
Heavy Weapons Specialist: The perfect choice for those who want to do a lot of damage from a distance. The Heavy Weapons Specialist is the expert in defending fortified positions and pouring large volumes of fire down range, but be careful if the enemy gets too close.
Armour Commander: The Armour Commander is the choice for those who want to ride into battle on several tons of mechanical steed. Nothing can be more formidable to the enemy than watching a formation of Battle Tanks roaring down upon you.
Scholar Progenium
The Scholar Progenium is the training academy for the orphans of the highest strata of Imperial Society, be they the children of Nobles, High Officials or Lord Militants. Trained from a young age to be devout, obedient and loyal, the graduates of the Scholar Progenium are the pinnacle of human martial prowess outside the Chapter-Fortresses of the Space Marines.
Note: The Scholar Progenium Class is the only class in the game where the Sex of the character has a bearing of Specialisation.
Commissar: The Commissar is a Political Officer and strict Disciplinarian. The Commissar is both a close combat powerhouse and a support Class that can inspire and rally the NPCs of other Players. The presence of a Commissar can spell victory where their absence would surely bring defeat.
Storm Trooper (Male Characters Only): Equipped with more advanced armour and more powerful basic weapons than regular Imperial Guard, the Storm Troopers are sent in when a job has to be done, no matter the cost. When all others fail, Storm Troopers don't.
Sisters of Battle (Female Characters Only): The most devout and dedicated of all Imperial Soldiers, the Sisters of Battle march into battle protected by Power Armour; armed with Bolters and singing the Emperors praises every step of the way. With Faith and Fire.
Mechanicum
Theses Tech Priests of Mars are responsible for the production and maintenance of all of the Imperium's Technology. The Tech Priests replace limbs and organs with machinery to bring them closer to Ommansiah, their God, and some say an aspect of the Emperor Himself.
Tech Adept: The Tech Adept is a master of creating, repairing and upgrading Imperial Technology. Well armoured and with tools that are just as adept at killing enemies as they are at repairing a Tank, the Tech Adept can provide a great advantage both on and off the battlefield.
Skittarii: The militant arm of the Mechanicum, the Skittarii are mechanically enhanced soldiers, easily capable of ripping a human to shreds with their bear hands. Armed with some of the best weapons the Mechanicum can provide, these tough and deadly soldiers can either be an unstoppable juggernaut or an immoveable defensive point.
Chaos
Chaos defiles; decays and corrupts. Worshiping the four Chaos Gods, the forces of Chaos are humans who have turned from the light of the Emperor and are now dedicated to bringing the Imperium down.
Classes of Chaos
Chaos Cultists
Chaos Cultists are humans who have fallen under the influence of one or more of the Chaos Gods and have banded together to fight the Imperium. Often composed of former Imperial Citizens, most Cultists have little or no military training.
Cult War Leader: The Cult War Leader commands huge numbers of poorly trained, poorly equipped, mostly expendable fanatics. Ruthless and cruel, the War Leader will gladly throw his cultists into the jaws of death for victory. Plenty more where they came from.
Mutant Officer: Bestowed with gifts from the Chaos Gods, ranging from extremely beneficial to debilitating bad, the Mutants are the elite of the Chaos Cultists. Though few in number, their mutations, better training and better weapons make the Mutant squads a powerful force on the battlefield.
Tank Commander: Riding on vehicles covered with the vile signs of Chaos and pouring foul blasphemies and tortured screams from their speakers, the Chaos Tank Commander will obliterate their enemies with their guns or crush them under the treads of their tanks.
Dark Mechanicum
The Dark Mechanicum are corrupted versions of their Imperial kin, but have developed technologies to channel and harness the Chaos Demons that live in the Warp into powerful war machines.
Dark Adept: The Dark Adept, much like his Imperial cousin, is a master of creating, repairing and upgrading technology, though sometimes not exactly how the user wanted. This is the only class not able to recruit Allied NPCs, the Dark Adept instead can create semi-sentient war gear that will protect him in much the same manner as an Allied NPC would.
Warpsmith: Warpsmiths do not recruit Allied NPCs, they create them in the form of Demon Engines, which are constructs that contain the essences of Chaos Demons who fight on the behalf of the lightly armed and armoured Warpsmith. Used properly by a talented Warpsmith, one Demon Engine can be more powerful that an entire brigade of Tanks.
The Eldar
The Eldar are an ancient race who once ruled the galaxy but have since fallen into decline. A proud, sophisticated race, they are now mostly confined to their Craftworlds, giant city sized ships that house their entire population. Though few in number, the Eldar are very long lived and technologically advanced, often dedicating centuries to the pursuit of a single aspect of warfare, to the exclusion of all else. This makes them extremely deadly in their chosen path but venerable to all other aspects of war, requiring an extremely high degree of cooperation between different Aspect Paths.
Classes of The Eldar
Guardians
All Eldar serve time as a Guardian, the citizen soldiers of the Craftworld. Many then go on to specialise in the various Aspect Paths of the dedicated warriors.
Dire Avenger Exarch: The Dire Avenger Aspect Path is a dedicated ranged anti-infantry path. With deadly accuracy and weapons designed to go against infantry, the Dire Avengers can rip through much larger formations with ease.
Fire Dragon Exarch: The Fire Dragon Aspect Path are anti-vehicle troops, almost to the exclusion of everything else. Their weapons are designed to rip through the armour of a Tank with a single shot.
Stinging Scorpion Exarch: The Stinging Scorpion Aspect Path excels at close combat, easily willing and able to tear through any opponent foolish to let them get close enough.
Autarch: The Autarch is a commander of great skill, often with centuries of experience in several different Aspect Paths, giving them access to a variety of equipment. Autarchs are given command of several units of basic Guardian Troops when the Craftworld goes to war.
War Machine Commander: In a fast and agile War Walker, or a gliding and shimmering Fire Prism, the War Machine Commander is the master of mechanised warfare.
Wraithbone Singer
The Wraithbone Singer is the craftsman and artisan of the Eldar, as adept at making buildings and sculptures as they are at making weapons of war.
Wraithbone Crafter: The craftsman of the battlefield, the Wraithbone Crafter makes and repairs the weapons and armour of his fighting kin. Though lightly armed and armoured, they are still a decent fighter and can recruit a Guardian Bodyguards for when they are making field repairs.
Wraith Master: The Wraith Master does not fight on the front lines themselves, instead they create Wraithbone War Machines, controlled by the souls of the dead, to fight on their behalf. From Wraith Guard to Wraith Lord, these war machines devastate their enemies in the name of the Wraith Master.
A/N: The next 'chapter' will likely be a character listing of the major players at the time of the posting. I will use this guide to provide these kinds of background details or things people want more information on to avoid breaking the flow of Victory or Death. If you have any requests on what you would like to see in this guide, then let me know through a PM