Items Lead Sean Bosshardt has written a developer's diary entry that introduces players to the RvR weapons that will be implemented in the upcoming 1.3.4 patch. He explains that players will be able to pruchase weapons with two types of new currency: Emblems and Insignias. Here's some details on the weapons:

"These weapons span all 4 tiers, going all the way up to endgame weapons that rival the power of any weapon currently available. In further patches, expect to see both the Emblem/Insignia stores and the Medallion/Crest stores expand, offering exciting new wares that are found nowhere else."

Bosshardt says the team decided to go with a progression system for the purchase of the weapons in order to keep individual item costs low. You can read more about the weapons after the jump.

Let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Sean Bosshardt and I am the Items Lead. I joined the items team late last summer after working on PVE content for quite some time. Being the lead of a high profile team like this definitely has its ups and downs, especially having inherited the team post-launch. I think we can all agree that there are some things with the itemization of Warhammer that could use TLC and I can assure you I am working feverishly towards that goal. I’d like to talk to you today about a new feature we’re adding to start us in the right direction.

With the upcoming 1.3.4 patch, we are implementing something that has been in the works for quite some time. It has been requested continually from the community and those requests have not fallen on deaf ears. The system in question has gone through numerous iterations until finally; we deemed it ready for release. Without further ado, I’d like to introduce RvR weapons (which just so happens to be a sub-set of the much larger and interesting Scenario Reward system)!

In 1.3.4 we focused on improvements to the Scenario system including the new Scenario Reward system. The Scenario Reward system is much like the Open RvR system you’re all used to, utilizing alternate currency accumulated by participating in RvR. This system will be used in parallel to the Open RvR system, yielding different and just-as-exciting rewards as the set pieces. There are two types of the new currency: Emblems and Insignias (which work similar to Medallions and Crests).

Accruing emblems is simple: you will be awarded emblems based on your realm’s score at the end of each scenario you participate in. Even a score of zero will yield emblem rewards. Through all tiers of the game, items on the scenario store will cost a number of these emblems. Once you’ve reached rank 40, you will begin accumulating insignias that, in conjunction with emblems, are used to purchase the high-grade endgame items. Insignias can be accumulated via a number of methods: completing a scenario, successfully taking a keep, successfully defending a keep, and within the initial city PQ (after Stage 2). We feel that this system is conducive to our goals of creating incentives for all types of RVR, while giving new and improved equipment to reward scenario play.

The initial roll out of this new system will result in the ability for you to purchase weapons with the new currency. These weapons span all 4 tiers, going all the way up to endgame weapons that rival the power of any weapon currently available. In further patches, expect to see both the Emblem/Insignia stores and the Medallion/Crest stores expand, offering exciting new wares that are found nowhere else.

One of the struggles with this system is wrestling with cost. How do we keep the cost of each individual weapon appropriate so that it feels attainable without too much of a grind, while maintaining a similar time investment to that of individual pieces of set armor? Ultimately, we decided to go with a progression system that we believe will feel organic and natural to you. With each of the endgame weapons, the cost of the previous weapon is factored into it. This is accomplished by using the purchase of weapons as a trigger that allows you to accumulate the next level of insignia. With this progression, it gives us the ability to keep individual item costs significantly lower than they otherwise would need to be, while ensuring that scenario participation is both plentiful and enjoyable.

Here’s to 1.3.4 and the great improvements it brings to WAR!

Sean Bosshardt
Items Lead