Book 12, now entitled Book 12: The Ashen Wastes, is more than just an update to the Guardian and Burglar classes that have already been announced.
Today Turbine released details on some changes for the Champion class as well. While these changes aren't as sweeping or broad as the "Month of" updates that two classes receive, the Champion is getting some much-needed attention in The Ashen Wastes.
One of the keynotes for the review is the introduction of a new stance at low levels, called Ardour -- specifically designed to give the player choices in their play and what stance they fight in.
Currently, Fervour is the only choice of stance for most levels. The Book 12 Champion update will include a new stance, available at low levels. It won't be as all-out offensive as Fervour, but it will include in-combat power regeneration as well as allowing the Champion to Block, Parry and Evade, though at some penalty. In addition to the new stance, Glory is going to get a small boost in effectiveness and will be available at mid-levels.
These two changes should give Champions a good choice of trade-offs in their stance selection between offense and defense.
There are also two new Legendary Skills being added to the game in the update, which you can check out the details on below.
Second Wind - This new skill is granted at level 14. It can only be used after an enemy is defeated and will restore some of the Champion's Power. Second Wind is intended to cover any shortfalls in power regeneration for Champions that are utilizing Ardour or Glory.
Melee Critical Passive Traits - Champions will now be able to train Tier 3 at Level 35 and Tier 4 at Level 46. The masters of straight up melee combat no longer receive fewer passive melee traits than Lore-masters.
There are plenty of other improvements to the Champion in Book 12, so head over to the Champion review to read more.
