Guild Wars 2

I feel transformations are the worst implemented skills in the game. You lose all utility skills in exchange for stat increases and new skills. If I had to guess, these type of abilities are the least used and liked out of all the skill types.

My suggestion is tone down the power of transformation skills, i.e make the skills on par with what would be seen on normal weapon sets. Get rid of the stat boosts, allow access to utility skills and increase the duration of the transformation. This would make them more like a additional weapon set instead of being totally disconnected from the normal class mechanics.

I feel this would open up additional depth for each class and make transformation skills competitive skill choices.

All i can say is when I started playing GW2 at launch is I rolled a Norn Guardian so I could transform into a Bear monster but I never use the skills because of what you get for the insanely long cool down. They are just a fun gimmick it would be awesome of they had some new life breathed into them.

start by giving all transform the ability to heal… that alone already makes bear wolf and asura elite interesting (altrought asura can already heal and wolf heals on strikes) Transformation still work with utility if you actualy use turrets on enginers as far as i know but bleh who would do that. Either make transform actualy do even greater damage or make them about to self heal if you want people to bother using them.

Have to agree, norn elites were (are!) the biggest disappointment about skills for me. I honestly expected them to be a permanent transformation form with the heal ability taken away (transform back here), and utilities that help you stay alive, so I could trait and gear for specific transformation styles. Like jaguar lowering your defensive stats and giving stealth abilities and precision + crit damage in exchange, bear giving great regen and toughness, raven permanent movespeed and dodge abilities (flying animation) with some party buffs, etc.

After I tried the first, I didn’t wanted to try another transformation ability. Tried another one, but didn’t even bother trying out the rest.

Yeah, the transforms are head scratchers (the racials doubly so, as racial skills are deliberately weak). Take the necromancer lich for instance. the transformation itself only last long enough for each skill outside of #1 to be used once (one of them maybe twice if you make sure to use it right after transforming).

They could just as well have made them into a model change with some stat modifiers and called it a day, letting people continue to use the skills and weapons they have set up their build around.

Transforms and Conjures should always have been designed like Engineer kits, so they can be used interchangeably with other weapon sets. This way they’d provide flexibility, rather than raw power.

The problem is, Arena.net has been too focused on trying to make a break into the competitive PvP / professional gaming circuit that they simplified character customization and limited any kind of flexibility in order to make it easier to balance the game. (Which, ironically has not helped balance it at all, as class balance is still stupidly out of whack.)