Dark Templar

From WikiAOC

Dark Templar

Wearing heavy armor and carrying a shield and blade, the Dark Templar drains the life from enemies while attacking. Like the Crusader, the Dark Templar is able to augment the team with a single aura. While able to transfer life to the team, the Dark Templar suffers for this, although with life draining abilities this is rarely a problem. However, the Dark Templar is susceptible to soul corruption effects more than most other classes because of powers they traffic with.

[edit] Spells and Combos

• Dark Templar Abilities
• Dark Templar Feats

[edit] Specialties

• One-handed Edged weapons
• One-handed Blunt weapons
• Shield
• Life drains
• Unholy damage

[edit] Available races

• Cimmerians
• Aquilonians

[edit] Preview

In the harsh reality of Hyborian life, many people turn to higher powers – the Gods – for guidance and understanding. Some turn to Mitra seeking hope and support, while others turn to Crom for savage inspiration. Some even turn to Set in order to tap into the powers he provides, but the Dark Templar will go as far as to trade his very humanity to any dark being who will offer him a piece of the corrupted power that they possess.

By going into a pact with such a dark being – be that an evil god, a wrathful demon or any other source of twisted power – the Dark Templar is able to draw upon immense strength and vitality. This power, however, certainly comes at a price as it binds the Dark Templar into painful worship demanded by the dark entity in return for their approval.

In essence, the Dark Templar is an evil fighter. By drawing upon these powers rooted in death and darkness, they are able to stand at the forefront of battles and take punishment that may have crippled a fighter of more ordinary skill. You see, whereas other members of the soldier class usually believes more in the importance of tactical fighting styles and the mastery of weapons in order to survive a fight, the Dark Templar has no qualms about tapping into dark, supernatural powers in order to secure victory for him and his team.

Taking punishment is a big part of the Dark Templar’s job and mastering light, medium and heavy armor is crucial to his success. By being able to equip some of the most protective armor available, he is able to fulfill his role as one of the members of the group most likely to be put in the front where the enemy’s damage can be directed at him.

Of course, having traded his very humanity to the forces of evil, his greatest asset will not be man-made equipment but rather the dark powers he can call upon. At level twenty-five he will gain access to the “Drain Life” ability that will turn some of the damage he deals to his enemy’s into health for himself. The much higher-level “Blood Pact” will intensify this ability, converting all damage the Dark Templar deals into valuable health that he needs to stay alive as he stands on the forefront of the battle, taking all the punishment.

All these powers do, however, come at a high cost. Tapping into the abilities possessed by the dark beings that dwell far beyond the plane of mere mortals, is something that the Dark Templar will also struggle with notably. For the source of this immense power will demand a tribute for the effort they put into supporting him -- a pact is a pact after all!

As such, many of the Dark Templar’s abilities will have detrimental effects that can harm him. “Pestilential Body” gained at level forty, for instance, will trigger a poison that will drain the life out of enemies around him, but it will also restrict the Dark Templar’s movement as poisonous gases and toxic sludge slowly takes over his body. Other powers will outright damage him and possibly kill him as he calls upon them!

Most probably inspired by the nature of the dark forces of this world (and beyond), the Dark Templar is also quite a sadist. Whenever members of his own group – his own companions – suffer in combat, the Dark Templar will himself gain power. When others are inflicted with pain, he will receive bonuses to his abilities making him more potent!

Still, the Dark Templar is a good adventuring partner to have for any group traveling the expanses of Hyboria and who faces the challenges this dangerous world provides. If you can manage to look past his dubious ways, having a member on the team with affinity for the dark side can be a valuable thing. For instance, the Dark Templar’s “Martyrdom” ability will actually heal his companions while also damaging himself.

As those Hyborians who can suffer the pain and commit to a pact with darkness will see, the Dark Templar is, in short, a more than capable fighter. Being able to master combination moves for many edged, blunt and thrown weapons – and even crossbows – he proves himself as a fighter that can use the more earthly tools of death and at the same time having the ability to call upon the evil forces beyond Hyboria and use their destructive powers as well!

[edit] Class Interview

The Dark Templar is a great archetype from lore and one we’ve worked hard on so players can enjoy the role of a sorcerous warlord from the Hyborian age. This class seeks to carve out their own kingdom, lead their own armies and fight for their own personal glory. By not tying them to any specific god or mythos we allow players to determine what type of dark powers they sell their soul to – demon lords, elder gods of pre-history or viler unnamed gods of Hyboria. The warlord aspect really identifies them, for they wield both the soldier’s sword and armor with the sorcerer’s foul magic. They contrast well with the holy powers of the Mitran Priest, the alien powers of the Herald of Xotli and more martial based soldiers. Playing the role of a Dark Templar warlord well will give a totally different insight into the Age of Conan storyline.

The Dark Templar is marked by all the dark forces he is dabbling with. Even though you would call him, or her, evil, the world itself will not react to the Dark Templar as evil. This means that the NPC’s won’t shy away, or treat a Dark Templar any different than they would another class. Given the extreme freedom we have within the game when it comes to customization and choice of armor it might not always be possible to spot a Dark Templar in action, but the trained eye should quickly mark him out when in combat. The Dark Templar will be right at the front of the action, and you will see the dark magic surrounding him.

The Dark Templar will have class specific melee combos, and also class specific fatalities. The Dark Templar has five core combo lines, with a total of 18 combos in total (from level 20 to 80), and another five combos which can only be obtained from certain feat choices. Many of the combos will directly tap into the dark magic, and many of these effects are first triggered when performing a combo in the right manner (i.e. some of his life drain abilities will only kick in after successfully drawing enemy blood). In general he can also run two core kinds of spell lines; namely Auras and Soul Covenants. The choices you make at various times also ties into the general damage output.

The Dark Templar has a whole host of dirty tricks up his sleeve, many based around dark magic. As this class is the only one outside the Mage Archetype who can wield dark magic, it makes for an interesting fighter with both the ability to wield damage and tank. It is first and foremost a melee class though, as his primary abilities are with one-hand edged and one-hand blunt weapons. He can also equip a crossbow at level 50. The Dark Templar can also remove his shield, and instead focus on holding magical talismans in the offhand, which will give him additional combat effects like bonus damage or procs. He won’t actually make any attacks with that offhand and gets absolutely no benefit if not using a shield and not having a talisman equipped.

He shares the role as tank with two other classes in the game. Still, he has been given several special abilities that the other tanks cannot access, for instance his dabbling with dark forces and the constant stream of life he can drain from enemies (or give to his team). As a consequence we have given the Dark Templar less health than the other two tanks (but still way more than other classes). A well performing Dark Templar can therefore, at times, be quite self sufficient, allowing the healers in a group to be a bit more 'careless' on buffs on them compared to, say, a Guardian.