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Gauntlet In depth Warrior Guide
Version 1.00
October 2nd, 2014
By: "the Krazed"
[email protected]

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Table of Contents
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Use CTRL+F and type in the number enclosed in brackets to jump to a certain 
section.

[0] Table of Contents
[1] Introduction
[2] Progression Guide
[3] Tools of the Trade
[4] Light Attack
[5] Heavy Attack
[6] Spinning Attack (Whirlwind)
[7] Dash
[8] Leaping Attack

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[1] Introduction

This guide is for those learning how to better play their warrior.
With the new system, I noticed that this game is not just a brainless hack
and slash game where you can just charge in and hit everything in front of
you and come out unharmed. After experimenting with the system a little, 
I found some way to play warrior better than just a useless muscle who takes
a lot of damage, eat all the food, and die a lot (use up the coins).


Parts of the guide includes gameplay for soloing with Warrior in hard mode as
well. Unfair? I have not got that far yet, will be sure to update ASAP.

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[2] Progression Guide

-You should know that you unlock Masteries the more you play, the more you
kill regardless of which mode it is. If you feel that the game is too hard
for you, you might want to take more time playing in NORMAL mode, unlocking
Masteries so your warrior become strong enough to take on higher difficulties
or make your playthrough a little easier. It does help!

All those 10% additional damage on <type of monsters>
Reduce cool down on spinning attack by 5% 15% is a life saver

So, yeah, you can just keep farming in NORMAL until you are confident with
your upgraded relics, etc. I would not rely on the relics as much since the
potions are quite rare in team play, but if you solo, it is another story.

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[3] Tools of the trade

1) Light Attack ***
2) Heavy Attack ***
3) Spinning Attack *****
4) Dash ***
5) Leaping Attack ****

Note: If you are thinking about not using any of the tool, you will not make
it far into the game. As for soloing, all tools are needed to keep you alive.

Let us go into each of them...


[4] Light Attack:

+ Staggers lesser enemies when hit
+ Wide hitting range. I think it is 180 degree ? could be 190 or 200
+ When used correctly (not spammed), can hold the incoming enemies decently

- melee = no range
- somewhat slow (slower than Valkyrie's attack)
- low damage, not killing monsters fast enough to deal with newly spawned ones
- warrior is vulnerable if he is hit from behind while using light attack
- does not stagger tougher enemies = you can't just stand there and keep 
hitting enemy
 

Guide:

Since the damage is so low, it would take about 4 to 7 hits on hard mode just
to kill the weakest zombie or the most frequent monsters. The damage is not
good enough to kill the monsters while the summoning stones are spawning more.
It just cannot keep up. Do not use this as your primary damaging attack.

You need to abuse its usefulness, that is its wide cleaving radius. Warrior
can keep a swarm of monsters, holding the line, staggering them with light
attack long enough for the wizard to nuke them or the Elf to bomb them.

Since it staggers lesser monsters, you can combo with the Heavy attack by
start a hit with a light attack to stagger a caster, then follow up with
a heavy attack to instantly kill off a caster.

By the way, it takes about 5-8 hits to kill a caster in Hard mode as well.

As for hitting the summoning stone, the damage is so ridiculous that you will
get surrounded by spawning enemies most of the time. However, it has some uses
You can make use of the staggering and cleaving radius to hit and move around
the summoning stone, in a circle. 

Keep in mind that the warrior's back is exposed while you are attacking,
moving forward at the same time, it is essential to manage and control where
you are going. You should not just spam light attack mindlessly as this will
lead you to be surrounded.

When you are about to be surrounded, learn to alternate hitting one direction
to stagger the enemies, then follow up with another direction to manage the
blind spot of the attacking arc. When done correctly, you can buy another
2-3 seconds for the Whirl Wind cool down to reset and get yourself out.
Or you can open up enough space to charge up a Dash to run out of it.

***Most new players take too much damage / die a lot because they are not
doing this. Even for a warrior, you are dead if you are surrounded***


[5] Heavy Attack:

+ Can instantly kill most casters and lesser monsters
+ Staggers up to some tougher monsters
+ Decent damage on summoning stone

- Melee = No range
- Vertical attack = difficult to kill multiple enemies in one shot
- Takes a few seconds to complete the animation (low frequency of uses)
- Warrior is vulnerable for attacks while doing it / after doing it.
- Damage and speed is not good enough to keep doing it on summoning stone

Guide:

The main use of Heavy attack is to pick out annoying casters. You can combo
by starting off with a light attack to stagger them first, then finish with
the Heavy attack to be safe. Since the attack takes a second to start, you
can be hit by spell before you actually hit the caster. Let's be safe.

The attack is so slow that you can be interrupted if you are hit in the middle
of doing a Heavy Attack AND after you have landed the attack. Sure, you have
sucessfully picked out the annoying caster in the middle of the monsters, but
then you are surrounded, and the other zombies WILL hit you. Not a good trade.

Always make sure that Whirwind cool down is ready to be use immediately after
you have landed the Heavy Attack to cancel the cool down and save yourself.

***You can also do Whirlwind in the middle of Heavy attack to cancel yourself
out if you feel you are about to be hit before your attack lands***

Heavy attack does OK damage on the summoning stone, but the speed limits its
frequency of use. By the time you have landed 1 or 2 of them on the stones,
you would be surrounded by then. However, be ready to get out, and run back
in to repeat when whirlwind cool down is reset. It is the only hit and run
tactic a warrior can do on the stones while trying not to get surrounded.


[6] Spinning Attack "Whirlwind

+ Good damage
+ Hits all enemies around you
+ Shockwave at the end of the animation extends the damage and range
+ Warrior is invincible for the duration of the animation
+ Cool down can be reduced with more masteries

- there is a cool down
- damage could had been better

Guide: 

This IS your panic button. Whirlwind will get you out of most situation.
When you feel you are about to get hit, WW !.

Use WW to cover your other tools with vulnerability:
use it immediately after a Heavy attack, Dash, Leaping Attack

Do not be afraid to open with a WW before you head into battle, the cool down
should reset by the time you need it. Use it on the summoning stone when
there is no monster nearby -then hit with a heavy attack or 2, then a light
attack when monsters are getting close, then WW should reset.

Your entire play revolved around your Whirlwind cool down management.
This is the key.

---if you see your warrior teammate taking a lot of damage in normal / hard
mode = he is not doing it correctly.
Food should be the priority for the warrior as he should be the one taking
hits because he is busy holding the line or charging in to kill casters, and
not cowardly running around or just spam light attack mindlessly.

[7] Dash (Charge, running, whatever you wanna call it)

+ Warrior is invincible for the duration of the animation
+ goes through all lesser monsters or object blocking the path
+ Knocks down all lesser monsters in the path

- takes a few seconds to start up
- somewhat hard to aim in the midst of battle
- cannot go through bigger monsters or bosses

Guide:

The most under-rated tools of most warrior.
This is by far the tool you use when running through traps, fireballs, arrows
Since warrior is invincible while Dashing, you should learn to abuse this tool

Like Heavy attack, you will be opened for an attack after you Dash finishes.
Therefore, make sure your Whirlwind is ready to cover the end of animation.

Team Play - since Dash knocks down all lesser monsters in the path, you can
help the team by just dashing and knocking down all the monsters around, 
giving your team the opportunity to better position themselves (move out of
the surrounding enemies, get into the summoning stone, etc)

Only bad side is that Dashing requires a few seconds to charge up. I saw new
warriors trying to do it while he is being surrounded. This is wrong.

Your dash can be interrupted while charging up (aiming as well), therefore,
make sure you manage your distance before doing so. You could start with a
Whirlwind to create space for you charge up and dash out of danger, but the
window is small, and you cannot make mistake. This is the only way a warrior
can get out of being surrounded, Practice this.


[8] Leaping Attack

+ warrior is invincible for the during of the animation
+ goes through everything except bigger / taller monsters
+ A little better damage than Heavy Attack
+ Mobility and Reach (range) to pick out casters from far away.
+ If timed properly, the leap at the end of the charge can extend the range

- Need to be charged up = can be interrupted
- Need to aim
- Need to time the distance and the attack = only knock down if over jumped

Guide: 

The 2nd most useful tool next from Spinning Attack. The Leaping Attacking is
your primary tool to start charging the line and take out the caster at the
far end of the room. It is like Heavy Attack, but you can run in to do it, 
giving warrior great mobility and invincibility while doing so.

If you time it right, the leap can go over even bigger monsters (difficult).
It is better to press the attack early than late, since if you jump past your
target, you would only knock them down, but if your attack comes out early,
sometimes it hit. The range is somewhat longer than the Heavy Attack.
This is essential for you to practice.

This move is a key move combined with Whirlwind to cover its vulnerability
after the attack ends, or using WW to create space enough for you to charge
up and run out of danger or into the next target.

If a warrior is not abusing this Leaping Attack, he is not doing his job.

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[9] Priorities

1st Take out casters / ranged attackers
2nd Hit the summoning stone
3rd Do not get surrounded - Manage your Spinning Attack cool down
4th Protect Wizard so he can freely cast big damaging attacks

exception: in higher difficulties, you can ignore killing monsters and go open
gates and get the hell out of that room if things get too rough.

Warrior's defense lie in his mobility. Comparing to the Valkyrie, Warrior is
much more mobile and better at hit-and-run tactic.

A Valkyrie can just stand back and keep blocking everything coming her way,
holding the line for the Wizard to nuke it out. A Warrior can only repeat his
Light Attack alternating with Spinning Attack to hold the line, but that only
lasts for so long until the monster number overwhelm the room.

Make use of his mobility, charge through the line, leap attack the casters
which are hard to reach as other classes, Whirlwind to create a path, and run
back to your friends. This is what you should be doing most of the time.

Do not be afraid to open with Spinning Atack and start hitting as well, if you
manage your WW cooldown properly, it should be up after you have done some
slashing and running around, dashing and leap attacking.

That's it for now.
I hope you enjoy the guide.
I will make some adjustment + adding more contents in future version.

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