Guild Wars 2

(The first section of my post is the concept itself, and the second half is my rationale for it)

GW1 allowed you to have up to 4 weapon sets selected. In GW2, we only get two, (or only one if you’re an Elementalist or Engineer). I fully understand that this is for the purpose of balance, which I am completely fine with.

I propose a rather simple idea, that would further ease the flow of gamplay, without actually hurting the balance: allow us to have more weapon set slots. For argument’s sake, let’s say 4. In each set slot, you could place your weapons. For example, my Necro could have the following setup:
-Set 1: Staff
-Set 2: Dagger/Dagger
-Set 3: Axe/Warhorn
-Set 4: Scepter/Focus

At this point, you are no doubt wondering how this can possibly be balanced. The second part of my idea (and really, the crucial part) is that all of your weapon sets would be displayed on your HUD (much like they were in GW1), but more importantly, each set would have a box with a check mark like those for the helmet and shoulders. At any given time, you would only be allowed to have two of these weapon sets selected (or only one, in the case of Elementalists and Engineer). Obviously, you would not be able to check/uncheck them during combat.

This would allow for quick and easy swapping of weapons, without having to open the hero panel, which is inconvenient (and annoying) in a number of ways. It could allow you to switch weapons on the fly, while still maintaining the game’s balance around two weapon sets.

My rationale:

The issue I have with the way the system is currently setup is that it’s often annoying to have to switch out your weapon set for a different one, regardless of your class. If I’m using Staff+Scepter/Focus on my Necro, trying to switch out the scepter and focus for two daggers can be annoying, especially when you have a limited window of opportunity to do so.

More importantly, I often have a hard time locating the weapons I’m looking for (while in the Hero window), especially when my inventory is full of loot; finding one specific staff among 20-30 other items can be an exercise in frustration at times. There’s also the fact that when I un-equip a weapon, or equip another one in its stead, the weapon goes back to my bags, but usually ends up mixed in with a pile of junk, rather than ending up in my invisible bag, where I usually keep spare weapons.