Guild Wars 2

Just an idea I had. For each of the weapon master achievements, create a PvE only utility skill. When a character reaches the max rank in that achievement, they unlock that weapon specific utility skill on that character. So a staff user who gets 5000 kills with a staff gets a PvE only utility skill that only works when you have a staff equipped.

I just feel that this would be a neat way to reward people beyond achievement points. It would both reward those who prefer a specific weapon and provide incentive to use other weapon sets to collect all the skills. The idea of achievements unlocking PvE only skills is something I could really get behind, since it provides an additional level of character customization.

Why PvE only?

The issue I see is that different classes use weapons in different ways. Weapon mastery is tracked account-wide. The way a mesmer wields a greatsword is very different from the way a warrior wields a greatsword. How would you account for that in the utility?

These are my thoughts, but I do find the idea intriguing.

1. Mainly because I like PvE only skills. They let the developers do fun things that wouldn’t work in PvP.

2. The account-wide tracking is an issue I had considered. Personally, I’d like some achievements to track based on character rather than account. Like what they did with map completion. Kind of incorporated into the suggestion, I just didn’t articulate it well. They could alternatively be unlocked account wide, limited by the profession’s weapon set. I’d be happy either way.

3. As for the nature of playstyles, it’s true that making the skills profession specific would add more depth and flavor, but it would be possible to have generally useful skills. Tying them to weapons already limits the professions, and the developers have already done cross-profession skills in the form of racial skills. So it could be done either way.

Interesting idea, but needs work. The thing that pops out at me is weapon-swapping. If I swap away from the weapon that grants me the special utility skill, I don’t want to have an unused utility skill slot. (And even if I have a weapon-based utility skill for the new weapon, I may not wish to equip it). There would have to be a system in place to select an alternate skill (like when we go underwater).

And what if we want to swap from a Greatsword to a different Greatsword, but don’t want to use the special utility skill for both? (I know, it won’t be the case very often, but it will come up.)

Good point. I don’t swap very often, so I hadn’t thought of that.