On The Warrior

When it comes to videos games there are as many ways to play games as there are types of games to play. Last week, while writing about the infinite excess that is Saints Row I talked briefly about some of the types of games I like to play. This week I will write about how I like to play a lot of these games. Jim has already weighed in on his go-to class, the wizard, and so now I will elaborate on mine: the warrior. This typecasting mostly applies to RPG type games but I think it also says a lot about I play other kinds of games as well.

Warrior, fighter, soldier, tank, whatever you call it, I like it. Whenever I play a class based game I invariably roll a warrior type first. I think that there is a lot of appeal in the solidity that this type of up front heavy melee class offers. The warrior is always right down in the thick of the action valiantly striving to do as much damage as he can with his particular hand held conglomeration of metal and wood, while standing firm under the blows of his opponents. I love the immediacy and the action of this kind of play-style. As my ork homeboys will often say “I want to be stuck in there with the boyz.” Whether it’s wielding an axe so large that it defies the laws of physics or taunting foes behind sword and board the warrior is my happy place.

On the surface the warrior is deceptively simple. There is no fancy magic to deal with, no stealth mechanics, or complicated combos. It’s just you, your equipment, some basic attacks, and your foes. However, there also isn’t anywhere to run to if things go poorly and no range to give you a head start. Your opponents must be fought down toe to toe, not blasted down from afar, or peppered full of arrows. Being a warrior is about knowing your limits before you engage, because once you go in, you’re in. In multiplayer games being a warrior is about managing “aggro,” that is, who your opponents choose to attack. You must, through abilities, game mechanics, and zone of control, encourage your foes to focus on you. The toughest character in the heaviest armour, the warrior must be the anvil to his team’s hammer. The warrior is the first one in and the last one out.

Without flashy fire balls or instant kill combos there isn’t much glory in being a warrior. You’re highest statistics in a game are usually “damage taken” or “times killed” and the only person you’ll have more kills than is the healer, and only if you’re lucky. I know some vicious healers. In my early WoW days the sole claim to fame I had after one brutal fight (we lost) against some other players was that “I took forever to kill.” Glory, there isn’t, but there is an odd kind of respect. In our WoW guild our main tank (warrior) was like some kind of super hero. He showed up only for the big events and without uttering more than a few cursory words he would spearhead the team though whatever task we were doing that day before vanishing until he was needed again. Among all the warriors, he got first pick of the loot. He was the spearhead and took the most damage. He had to be, and he was, the strongest.

Warriors are often leaders. This is not only because they are in the thick of battle but also because they often chose when and how to engage. Being a warrior is also about establishing trust. Your team must trust their warrior to keep the bad guys tied up and the warrior must trust his team to keep him alive and finish the fight successfully. Playing warriors has taught me a lot about leadership and team work and I have countless stories about amazing feats that were accomplished because I had some really great teammates. A mage or rogue can afford be single and aloof, a warrior cannot. Even the most famous warrior on our old WoW server acknowledged that without his team he was nothing. His battle cry was “I charge, you heal, we win.”

I like playing the warrior because the mechanics are simple and I always know what I’m getting going in. There are only so many ways you can set up a fighter, but every game has a different magic system. I’m not interested in gaming the system, or learning the ultimate combo and wrecking havoc. I just want to get in and play the game, I want to see the story and explore the world. I can learn the other classes later. Being a warrior and by definition hard to kill also gives me the time to learn the game. I have time within fights to get a handle on things and make good choices. If a mage or rouge makes one mistake, they’re toast and I’m not some elite gamer who gets his combos right every time. I need time to think and plan and nothing buys time like a suit made of steel and a dragon’s backside strapped to your arm. I’m at my best when I can focus on doing the best I can at a few things rather than trying to multitask like crazy.

So there we have it. I like warriors because I like the action, I like the simplicity, I like being at the core of a team, and because really they have best looking gear. It’s hard to make a wizard look truly badass without making him goofy. Finally I guess I like warriors because when it comes right down to it, they are the most “realistic”. They rely on their skills and their equipment to do the job, not magic or might-as-well-be-magic stealth mechanics. Maybe that leads to a better feeling of agency or something. I haven’t decided. That being said, in every game that lets me I always build a warrior that is tiny who wields a two handed sword that is literally larger than he is. Watching him fight always gives me a good giggle.

D.