Guild Wars 2

I’ve been observing for a while how crafting seems to be well and truly ignored in WvW despite the fact that all siege weapons technically are crafted. We could probably involve the crafting professions a little more in WvW to introduce more diversity in game.

While we obviously can’t have premade ready-to-go siege weapons in inventories, I think being able to craft improved and/or cheaper versions of existing siege weapons would be a fine way of dissipating that excess Elder Logs and Mithril Ores supply on the TP.

Possibly we could use Weaponsmithing for (mostly) metal based siege equipment, like Siege Golems or Flame Rams, and Huntsman for (mostly) wood based siege equipment, like Trebuchets, Catapults and Ballistae. We may even be able to involve other crafting professions too, for new equipment types; Asuran Shield Generators for Artificer (similar to that used at the cannon near the Temple of Grenth), Mantlets and/or Siege Towers for Armorsmith, etc.

Asuran Shield Generators could be similar to a Siege Golem’s shield: a (450?) radius bubble which blocks all incoming ranged attacks. These protect whatever is inside from up to a significant amount of ranged damage, possibly almost equal to an Alpha Golem’s health; but are easily destroyed by melee attacks. These could provide an additional dimension to attacking a heavily fortified keep, tower or castle, rather than trebbing the walls for hours on end. You could attempt to break the gates in by ramming.

Mantlets could provide limited cover similar to a wall, but have health. They would also impede both allied and enemy movement, and be moderately resistant to both melee and ranged fire, while being weak to heavy siege (cannons, catapults, ballistas, trebs). These could look like one of the projections from the floor in Plains of Ashford, like those seen in the Charr intro sequence. Being able to impede movement may be able to allow commanders to reshape the battlefield to better direct enemy forces into chokepoints, or allow allied players to heal up in relative safety.

Siege towers could also be an alternative to PvDooring, by allowing players to bypass walls with significant supply investments. They could dump allied troops right on walls, forcing the defenders into a melee combat to retain control of their wall. Siege towers would be movable, albeit at a very slow rate; and since they are taller than walls, they would also be unable to pass through gates therefore making the inner gate of SM and keeps to be still useful.

Thoughts?