Guild Wars 2

I just saved you guys 30 skill points.

The bear one is only 10 and I can go “Svanir’s returned!” over teamspeak everytime I shapeshift.

I bought them all nevertheless… had enough skill points for everything there is and still plenty unused.

I actually use bear a lot in dungeons.
It has a huge health pool and the big KB (5) is awesome if you need to separate a mob.

Snow Leopard is expensive, but it has stealth, and Elementalists (and several other professions) do not get stealth themselves. It proved invaluable at several points during my run to 100% map completion, when I was stuck solo’ing some areas.

I was just thinking to myself that it is really silly that you can’t use any of the Norn elite skills while moving; the game is all about moving around and not standing still, but you’re supposed to just stand still when you use your elite skill? Really, it feels totally out-of-place and also makes these elite skills quite not-so-elite.

Personally I am gonna upgrade to digital deluxe just to get the Mistfire wolf, it’s still better than what Norns have.

Someone mentioned this in another thread:
Racial skills are deliberately less powerful than the profession Elite skills.
This is so people don’t pick one race over another because of it’s racials.

Wolf is nice for the heals and knock downs. I like to use it for when my healing skill is on cooldown.

ecwoodrow.7034:

Wolf is nice for the heals and knock downs. I like to use it for when my healing skill is on cooldown.

Same here – and beyond that, I think the chance to do critical damage is pretty huge in the Wolf Form. Plus you have the Fear and Interrupt as well.

Qan.4672:

Someone mentioned this in another thread:
Racial skills are deliberately less powerful than the profession Elite skills.
This is so people don’t pick one race over another because of it’s racials.

Yes, but even if its going to be weaker than OTHER skill, it shouldn’t be weaker than the character itself.

Transformations have a HUGE flaw, as they take away your character utility and healing skills. This means that while transformed you have less tactical options. While transformed everything is reduced to attack and defend. If this attack and defend is weaker than the character “un transformed”, then what is the point of the skill?

“If my auto attack hits for 100, I won’t use a skill that hits for 90”, right?

This is what happens here. Take the bear for example, it is supposed to be a “Tank transformation” allowing you have more survivability… well this is a lie. Unless you are an elementalist who doesn’t know how to use your earth skills, you will die quicker as in Bear than in your regular form. Same happens when the other forms… you may get another “utility” that you don’t have as your regular form (like the heal from wolf or, the more powerful, the stealth from the Leopard) but does that justify an elite slot? and for that sacrifice ALL your other utility?

IMO, while transformed you are weaker than normal and it’s not worthy for just one utility that your character may lack of.

I like the mobility of Leopard. I think Leopard is quite useful for escape situations in WvWvW.

As a thief, being in a large mob often results in dying or sneaking away. When sneaking isn’t an option I can be Leopard and sneak some more and while not sneaking I don’t die very fast at all, in the occasion that the charge doesn’t auto target, you can run away from those zergs too. Against other players the forms are quite strong and I feel Leopard is quite weak for DPS compared to the rest, yet is quite powerful against players.

My first elite was Raven, boy that one is horrible. The coolest skill(skill 2) locks you in place long enough for the enemy to get back up and run upto you again. It made me not bother with the other forms until Leopard(because my character followed Leopard so it was for concept).

Bear is nice when you have to pull out all the stops to stop something I usually am using it during Boss fights or Champion fights when they have just a certain amount of health left.
If I’m grouping with my guildies and go bear when I de-bear I usually make reference to “Bear Form for when you absolutely positively must Maul something to death”

personally i find that Wolf form is very very powerful if you find yourself in a pinch in pve.

you basically press 4, then 5 if they’re further away than melee range, then you try group the mobs infront of you then press 2, this will essentially refill your health bar, and it’s on a short cooldown too, after you use it just press 1 and apply bleeds to your hearts content.

as for the leopard form, i think it would work best with a precision+power build, it’s quite useful in WvW, but i never used it because i’m a light armor with 15k health, jumping into a group of people is stupid, and using it to chase/escape is inefficient because of the long cooldown, but the casting while moving screams WvW so i use it sometimes.

Wolf form is my emergency button. It saved my life in most situations. But i think standing attack is a terrible handicap. I am not really having fun while fighting as Wolf (which it should be), it just saves my life.

I am talking about PVE for sure. In PvP i dont think wolf is going to help me a little

I never use the transformations, myself. They mostly just all have one cute trick you can use as an escape switch or for some very specific situation. They’re mostly worthless for general combat, compared to your normal build + SoR or even WB. I guess that’s the intention, but it leaves them feeling very underwhelming.

It’d be nice if the transformations gave you a new health bar independent of your old one, all had stability and simply put you back to your old form (with old health prior to the transformation) once exhausting their timer or health. Sound powerful? Well, they should be. They’re elites, not “cute trick buttons.”

Honestly I’m disappointed with Norn elites. The other races get some diversity, whereas all of ours are the same thing, with a couple of small variations. Again, I’m not saying they’re useless, just that they’re underwhelming and that Norns could at least have a couple elite options that aren’t turning into a fairly worthless animal form.

Mesket.5728:

Qan.4672:

Someone mentioned this in another thread:
Racial skills are deliberately less powerful than the profession Elite skills.
This is so people don’t pick one race over another because of it’s racials.

Yes, but even if its going to be weaker than OTHER skill, it shouldn’t be weaker than the character itself.

Transformations have a HUGE flaw, as they take away your character utility and healing skills. This means that while transformed you have less tactical options. While transformed everything is reduced to attack and defend. If this attack and defend is weaker than the character “un transformed”, then what is the point of the skill?

“If my auto attack hits for 100, I won’t use a skill that hits for 90”, right?

This is what happens here. Take the bear for example, it is supposed to be a “Tank transformation” allowing you have more survivability… well this is a lie. Unless you are an elementalist who doesn’t know how to use your earth skills, you will die quicker as in Bear than in your regular form. Same happens when the other forms… you may get another “utility” that you don’t have as your regular form (like the heal from wolf or, the more powerful, the stealth from the Leopard) but does that justify an elite slot? and for that sacrifice ALL your other utility?

IMO, while transformed you are weaker than normal and it’s not worthy for just one utility that your character may lack of.

Absolutely 200% agree. If it’s weaker than your regular character, they need to either get rid of it and completely redo it, or tune it in better. And I’m usually not one to harp so harshly on skills, but I tried them all, and all norn racial skills are severely borked. Especially when you compare them to other racial skill that I shall not name, but that I regularly bring to boss fights because they freaking rock but not overshadow normal elites. they just fit the encounter better and thus I use them. That should be how norn elites work, as they are trash mobs in OPEN WORLD can easily kill you in so-called “elite norn form”….don’t even think you can run one in a dungeon lol.

Snow leopard form saved me from dying in PVE and WWW. I transform, then go stealth 2 times( invisibility), which is enough to escape to safer place.
You should change the title to this , OP.

Oh, did I mention that you can steal/open chests from bosses while in stealth?

This form should be renamed into Thief Leopard.

I was terribly disappointed when I realized I couldn’t move while using shapeshift attack skills.

Makes them pretty pointless, the only one I use is snow leopard to travel and escape combat.

But making a norn elite only useful for running away? Really?

^ and it’s a 30 point elite at that xD lolz