Savage

Attributes & Races
Troll

Trolls have the highest Weapon Skill(WS) no matter what weapon they choose to specialize in. This results in greater defense penetration. Their high strength also results in them having the highest damage per hit of any race. The negative side of trolls is their low dexterity and quickness, this is most noticeable at lower levels but with a decent template and savagery buffs this can help to be negated. Another aspect of the troll that could be considered negative is their large size, they are easily targeted by other players and can also make it difficult for your allies to select a target if you're standing near them.

Norse

The norse are fairly well balanced in their statistics distribution. They don't really shine in any one area, but they also don't have any glaring weaknesses. Since norse are also able to be a wide variety of other classes, enemy players won't know right away what class they are fighting, especially if you're going 2h spec.

Kobold

Kobolds are a popular choice for savages due to their small size and high dexterity and quickness. Their high dex/qui results in higher base evasion and can help to compensate for their low hitpoints. Their small size also makes them more easily overlooked in realm vs realm combat.

Valkyn

Valkyns are another good choice for savage, their average strength combined with their high dexterity and quickness make them hit hard and evade/parry at rates similar to a kobold. Valkyns also have the added benefit of an extra 5% racial resist compared to the other races. The only downside of the valkyn is their low base con, but this can be easily countered with a decent template.

Dwarf

Dwarves are an balanced racial option for the Savage. They have marginally less damage output than the other races but make up for it with size and toughness. In solo settings you may not like the dwarf but in group and zerg settings the dwarf is a very strong choice as the added survivability makes up for the lower damage. Their low dexterity and quickness results in lowered defensive capabilities, their high base con results more base hit points which increases the hp cost associated with savagery buffs and their strength is only average.

Advice

When choosing race there is no bad option as a Savage. The difference in damage between the lowest (Dwarf) and highest (Troll) is a couple of % at most. The difference in HP between the lowest (Valkyn) and highest (Dwarf) is 400-500 HP. Size and looks should also influence your choice. For absolute min/max Troll is the best followed closely by Kobolds and Dwarfs but overall the differences between race are small.

Starting stats should always be 10 str/con/dex. Quickness is normally an important attribute for melee classes however Savages self-haste is so strong that you shouldn't have to template any quickness into your template beyond what the set bonus provides.

Some Mechanics Issues
The Savage has 2 mechanics worth considering. The first is that Savagery buffs take 5% health from you each time they are used. This is not impacted by the level of the buff. They will not fire if you cannot pay the health price, so you cannot directly kill yourself with self buffs.

The second is the ability to triple and quad hit. According to the Grab Bag from Feb 5, 2021:

The rates at 50+16 H2H specialization are as follows:

Triple: 16%

Quad: 5.75%

The rates at 44+16 H2H specialization are as follows:

Triple: 14%

Quad: 4.75%

Additionally, you cannot quad hit if you are below level 40 in H2H specialization. Finally, in order to triple/quad swing you MUST have a H2H weapon equipped in your off hand. Your main hand CAN be equipped with a non H2H weapon, such as bruiser, and will still have a chance of triple/quad swinging but you cannot triple/quad hit with a 2h weapon or if your off hand is not equipped with a H2H weapon.

Specialization
44 weapon 49 savagery - This is the recommended spec for all savages.

Whether you spec into H2H or 2h weapons, this spec is a very balanced specialization. With a 2h 6.0 weapon it is possible to swing at nearly cap swing speed (1.9 or faster) and when using H2H weapons you will swing at cap swing speed even with substantial swing speed debuffs.

50 weapon 39 savagery 18 parry

This spec should only be done with a 2h sword or H2H. If you find yourself in position to rear style with Ragnarok, the damage you will see is incredible. However, it is with H2H that this spec truly shines.

With these two specs there is an important point to consider when using H2H weapons. With 44/49 your damage will be a couple of percentage points lower than it is with 50/39. This is because you lose 4% damage with the savagery buff but gain damage from having a higher WS and increased changes to triple and quadruple hit. Overall, these extra swing chances provide an increase of 2 percentage points to triple swing and 1 percentage point to quadruple hit. This translates to an average damage increase of 5% netting an increase of 1% damage over the 44/49 spec before taking into account the higher WS (which results in about another 1% damage increase). The cost to this is that you have more variance in your damage output because it is based on your triple/quad hit chances. Defensively it's about a wash as you're losing a little evade/parry but gaining a lot of parry with the spec. Swing speeds, without debuffs, are marginally impacted (a difference of about .2 a swing) however with H2H, as a troll without a little quickness in your template you are still swinging at the hardcap with celerity pots.

What this all means is that 44/49 does more slightly less but slightly more consistent damage while 50/39 does slightly higher but less consistent damage. In practice what this means is that sometimes you will kill someone in under 5 seconds more often with 50/39 than you will with 44/49 but you will also sometimes find targets that don't die quite as quickly. On average your damage is a little higher with 50/39 than it is with 44/49. Again, these arguments only apply to H2H as you cannot double hit with a 2h weapon. The consideration between these two with a 2h weapon is whether you find yourself wanting to use Ragnarok often or not.

With the change of climb walls from 50 down to 45, the 44/49 spec also allows one to climb walls. Unless you find yourself never climbing into keeps, the ability to climb walls outweighs the slight damage reduction experienced by dropping from 50 H2H to 44 H2H. There is no reason to spec less than 49 Savagery as the buff from the triple/quad percentage does not outweigh the lost damage from the damage buff.

43 Weapon 50 Savagery

This is an obsolete spec. There is no longer any reason to ever spec 50 Savagery.

Master Levels

The Savage has access to two solid ML lines, Warlord and Battlemaster. With Battlemaster a Savage gains the ability to have point blank interrupts from power leak and the essence shatter chain. In addition to aoe interupts, essence shatter provides buff shears which can remove not only buffs but also any other effect a player has except for mith bought RA buffs. This includes MOC, SOS, and even stun immunity. Due to the ability for H2H weapons to triple and quadruple hit, essence flames provides an impressive boost to savage damage as well. With a lucky quad hit and essence procs it is possible to do an extra 400-500 damage. Warlord also has some advantages in the form of the ABS buff and omni heal shouts. In 1v1 situations Warlord is arguably as good as Battlemaster, however in 1vx situations and group settings the ability to area interrupt make Battlemaster the overall better option.

Tactics
Savages are offensive damage powerhouses, but this damage comes with a price, Savage buffs cost health, a lot of it. First Aid should be a priority realm ability as the ability to pop your buffs and immediately use first aid gives you 40 or more (with the Set bonus and spell duration) seconds of free buffs. At level 35 you get the ability to use Blissful Ignorance which allows for in combat use of the self buffs without health cost. Combined you can expect almost 1.5 minutes of self buffs without health costs.

At lower levels the health buffs are significant as they cost a flat 5% regardless of level. Therefore, and also when level 50 but if you cannot use Blissful Ignorance, it is recommended that you only use your damage add buff, your damage swing speed buff, and your choice of evade/melee resist/parry buff. Generally, the evade is best if you are solo while melee or parry if you are in groups.

The strongest styles on a savage are the side and rear chains.

PVE
In PvE a Savage has the same role as any other light tank. Get to the side of the target and damage it up. Use detaunts if you get aggro as your anytime style is significantly worse than positionals. The evade chain radius is useful against piles of mobs but make sure to stack them on top of one another as the radius is limited.

RVR
You are a glass cannon. Nothing can kill someone faster by themselves than a savage. Because of the extreme damage savages can do and their reinforced armor they tend to be priority targets to be killed outright or chain snared. Learning when to dive into the enemy and when to come back out is vital to survive long in group and zerg situations. Charge should be thought of as an escape tool as much as a way to close into an enemy. Try to avoid being snared out by enemy tanks. The ability to 3-4 shot anything less than a tank (and even a lot of tanks) can give one a sense of power but it's useless if you can't reach someone because you've died or are CC'd out.

In solo combat you should focus on landing the side chain with the evade chain backing it up. If your opponent is letting you get a rear stun off, it's a good move to get someone to purge the stun. A full duration side stun is rarely survivable to most classes without heals. The evade chain is also extremely hard hitting with the AF debuff followed by some of the highest style damage styles in the game. The ability to hit multiple targets is nice but in practice the radius is extremely tight so it will rarely happen in RvR.

Realm Ability Progression
Free charge frees up a lot of realm points for a savage. Additional RAs a savage should have is Det 9, Pain 9, Purge 3, IP 3, First Aid 1, and Avoidance of Magic 5 or Empty Mind 3.

The aug abilities, such as aug str/dex can come after you have the above RAs. Priorities are Det and First Aid. You should have both of these by the time you are R5. After that what situations you find yourself in should determine the order and extent to obtain pain, purge, IP, etc. but damage is what a savage does so Pain 7 should also be a priority.

Realm Rank 5 Ability
The savage has a strong R5 ability. Use it wisely.

Useful Artifacts
Weapon

for the /use:

Snakecharmers - This is an important artifact to carry in your 2h slot (if H2H) or 1h slot (if 2H spec) as it provides a /use that is a massive ABS buff.

Battler/Spear of Kings - Both of these artifacts are also nice but you will find Snakecharmer outperforms both substaintially.

Bruiser should be obtained by all melee characters to help knock down keep and tower doors.

Armor

Winged Helm (solo/smallman) - Provides a nice style damage debuff but only lasts a few minutes.

Shades of mist (solo/smallman) - The ablatives on this are nice, but it is outperformed by either the Savage Loyalty Cloak which comes with 5 minutes of stealth lore or the OW Stalwart cloak.

Other Useful Items
Weapons

Savages have access to some powerful weapons. The One, CL 15 weapons, and the Drakulv Claw are all great, great weapons. Additionally, Astral Mephitic Fang with it's disease proc is extremely powerful though harder to template in. Procs are highly important for a savage as the triple and quad hit makes their weapons proc at higher rates than any other melee class.

Armor

The Savage Cursed Set items are an absolute must for the Savage. They provide an additional 10 seconds of savage buffs which amounts to a 33% increase in duration. This stacks with spell duration providing the ability to have a full 50 seconds of savagery buffs.

Mythirian

The Freezing King Mythirian should be your main mythirian. Additional myths that are useful include the Dragon Movement Mythirians help with swim speed and falling damage. Greater Health for health regen, Greater Onslaught if you use siege, and for extra pro play in 8mans the various resist mythirians to give you an additional resists helps. Finally, the Greater Guerdon mythirian provides bonus RPs.

Cloaks

The two main choices for cloaks for a Savage are the Loyalty Cloak and the OW Stalwart Cloak. The first provides nice mythical increases and the use is a 5 minute duration SL. The Stalwart cloak has a disarm proc on it which combined with triple/quad swing fires at impressive rates on a savage.